“Festivals are happy places.”

A festival is an event, celebrated in a town or community, that centers on some aspect of culture. Festivals can be associated with agriculture like an apple festival, linked to area cultural arts or crafts, or linked to a historical event, or commemorating a holiday like a May-Day or a Christmas festival. The history of Festivals dates back to the 14^th or 15^th centuries in time and these celebrations are found in virtually every country of the world. Festivals are often spread over several days and may combine music, entertainment, parades, shows, local arts or crafts, sports or skills demonstrations. They are as varied in kind and characteristic as the cultures they are found in. Today, festivals are often categorized by specific type, such as arts, literary, storytelling, music, reenactment, or historical festivals. Some festivals completely revolve around holidays or religious occasions or around food or drink like Barbeque or Wine Festivals.

As an author I have participated in many different types of festivals—and I’ll be spotlighting some of these festivals we’ve attended in this blog with past photo collages in illustration.  One more unique type of festival, that I have often been a part of as an author, are Literary Festivals and writing conferences or events that spotlight writers, where they sign their books and talk with readers and often speak about their work as well. I’ve attended festivals like these in North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee. Two examples, you’ll see in illustration, would be the Kentucky Book Festival and the Rose Glen Literary Festival in Sevierville, TN.

My favorite festivals are the Regional Festivals held around the Appalachian and southeast area where I live. These festivals also include juried Arts and Crafts Shows, where participants submit their art or show items to be judged for inclusion. We have attended many of these, like the Home Craft Days Festival in Big Stone Gap, VA, the Foxfire Mountaineer Festival in Clayton, GA, and the Townsend Spring Festival in the Smokies. We also enjoy the annual spring Artisan Market in Lenoir City, TN, sponsored by the Foothills Craft Guild, and full of wonderful fine artists. Many times in past. we have also attended the Wilderness Wildlife Week festival, held in Pigeon Forge every year, where J.L. and I give presentations during the days of the event. This festival, continuing for several days, has vendors, speakers, hikes, and excursions.

Often local and regional festivals extend for several days to a week. One of these longer festivals we’ve been attending for several years is the Great Smoky Mountain Arts & Crafts Community show held in Gatlinburg before the Easter holiday. It is always held in downtown Gatlinburg at the Convention Center. This show is usually three to four days in length and we enjoy meeting people there from all over the U.S., who travel to the Smokies for Spring Break and come to the show to see the crafters and vendors. I’m sure we’ll be at this show again next spring!

As the summertime kicks in, with its warm weather and with children out of school, many festivals are held outside all around the U.S. We can attend only festivals where there is some “indoor” space since we have a multi-book display to protect from the weather. This year we traveled to the Mountain Artisans Summertime Arts and Crafts Show in Cullowhee, North Carolina, for a two-day show and then in July to the annual Grainger County Tomato Festival in Rutledge, Tennessee. We’ve been attending the Tomato Festival for over twelve years now … and it is one that we always enjoy. At the Tomato Festival are vendors, entertainment, artisans, crafters, and vegetable farmers from around the Grainger County area with their wonderful Grainger County Tomatoes the festival is named for.

Coming up for us at the end of August is one of the many historical festivals we love to participate in each year – the Cades Cove Museum Homecoming held on the grounds of the old Thompson-Brown House, built in the 1700s. The old historic house contains the Cades Cove Museum with pioneer relics and furnishings. This event is coming up this month on Saturday, August 26^th, so make plans to stop by if you can! We’ll be on the porch of the old house, like in the picture at the beginning of this blog post. If you’ve missed reading some of our books, we’ll have all of them there with us … and you’ll enjoy visiting with the wonderful vendors, historians, and entertainers at this festival event. You can also have lunch under one of the big shade trees.

In September we’re also privileged to be attending another unique historic festival, the 32^nd Annual Cherokee Festival at the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum in Vonore, TN. The museum is just down the street from Fort Loudon State Park. This is a great festival put on by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee who will be at the festival both days with Cherokee arts and crafts, storytelling, dancing, native costumes, and more. You can sample Cherokee food with the many food vendors and learn about Cherokee history in the museum. J.L. and I will be inside the lobby in the museum, next to the gift shop … and, of course, our highlight book for that event will be my new novel SEEKING AYITA set in Cherokee.

Starting in October, J.L. and I have back-to-back signing events every weekend through October, November, and into December, not only in Tennessee, but in North Carolina, Kentucky, and Georgia. Some festivals are still being finalized … but most are already on the Appearances page of my author’s website with specific dates, places, addresses, and times… We’ll be going to Frozen Head State Park’s Heritage Festival October 14^th, to  the Treats, Crafts and Vendor Show in Rock Spring, Georgia, on October 21^st. Later in October, we’ll be attending  the Annual Mountain Makins’ Festival in Morristown, TN, October 28^th and 29^th and participating in the Foothills Craft Guild’s fall show on November 3^rd and 4^th. Note the photo college illustrations are from past events we attended … so be sure to check the dates and times on my website for when these events will occur this year.  What is always fun about all of our fall events is the variety at the festivals … the different crafters, artists, photographers, entertainers, the special activities for the kids, food vendors, and lavish fall decorations.

As November moves in the shows and festivals we attend become more “Holiday-Oriented”  and linked to Christmas themes. We’ll be heading to the Christmas Connection Show in Kingsport the 10^th and 11th of November, and then to the Christmas Bazaar Festival in Corbin KY on November 18^th at the Civic Center Arena. Next, we travel to North Carolina to the Hard Candy Christmas Show at WCU’s Ramsay Center in Cullowhee November 24^th and 25h on the Thanksgiving Weekend, and then to the Women of Service’s annual Christmas Show and festival on November 30^th at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN.  In early December on Saturday Dec 2 and Sunday Dec 3, we’ll have a last holiday festival event at the 7^th Annual Dandridge Christmas Show or Shopping Expo at the Field of Dreams Activity Center – a great time to pick up Christmas gifts! We look forward to see many of you at some of these lovely festivals before we stop for a break for the holidays.

I hope talking about all these festival events in my blog post will encourage you to look for festivals you can attend in your own home area, if you don’t live near us in the Southeast. In most all parts of the U.S. and abroad, there are an abundance of year-round festivals you can visit and enjoy.  Most of the ones we attend are Free to the public or only charge a small entrance fee to help offset parking – and are full of family fun for all ages. Long before we became authors … J.L. and I loved visiting festival events, always offering a great getaway from the house and an entertaining day. Our memories are packed with good remembrances of beautiful crafts, great food, rich entertainment, and the additional joy of meeting new friends along the way.  As for me … “I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore.” [Randy Pausch]

For ongoing details of all our Festival and other signing Events, check in often at the Appearances Page of my author’s website at: www.linstepp.com/appearances/

See you again in September … LIN

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act.

On July 8^th, J.L.’s and my fourth regional guidebook publishes, titled VISITING NORTH CAROLINA STATE PARKS. As with our two other state parks books, J.L. and I visited every single state park in the state to write this new book. We started our journey on North Carolina’s Atlantic coast and worked our way gradually west in week long trips. We had a glorious time visiting and exploring every park so we could share all the fun things to do and see in each one with our readers … lakes to enjoy, trails to hike, campgrounds and amenities available, historic spots not to miss, and much more. We also added the NC national parks and historic sites in our book, too. In many other states, like in Tennessee, these are governed by the state parks system …and they were too pretty to leave out of our guidebook! We delighted in journeying across the state over the last two years, and I hope you will enjoy reading our new guidebook and planning some trips of your own.

We laid out our North Carolina parks guidebook in four main sections: (1) The Tidewater area near the state’s coast; (2) The Coastal Plain area, moving west from the coast; (3) The Piedmont in the center of the state; and last (4) The Mountains Region in western North Carolina. We researched each section in general and then each park individually, planning our trips before setting out. We read extensively about historic sites, hiking trails, park history, and especially about unique features we didn’t want to miss on our visits.

In North Carolina with the 42 state parks and 12 national parks so spread out, we traveled more getting from one park to the next, staying in motels or lodges we scouted out in advance. J.L. and I usually visited two state parks each day on our trips and occasionally, when the parks were small and near each other, we could visit three before dark began to fall. We seldom needed a fancy place to stay while traveling since after walking, hiking, and exploring out-of-doors all day we were usually happy to fall into whatever bed we found!

On our first trip, of nearly two weeks, we visited all the Tidewater Area along North Carolina’s coast. It had been years since J.L. and I had been to the North Carolina coast and the Outer Banks area. We stayed in a charming historic town called Edenton on the Albemarle Sound as our first base camp and from there visited many parks before moving south. In all, we explored twelve Tidewater parks including Fort Raleigh on Manteo, Jockey’s Ridge on the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout, Carolina Beach State Park, the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Fort Fisher, Moores Creek National Battleground, Fort Macon, and Hammocks Beach, plus inland parks like Goose Creek and Pettigrew. I was shocked at the tourism growth on the Outer Banks but we loved the National Seashores and the lighthouses we visited along the way. J.L. and I both learned a lot about the Revolutionary War visiting Confederate forts like Fort Fisher at Kure Beach, Fort Macon on Atlantic Beach, and Moores Creek battlefield inland at Currie.

Our next travel trip to North Carolina took us traveling inland from the ocean to the Coastal Plain Region. There we visited another eleven state parks scattered from north to south. Many of these parks centered around lakes, rivers, or swamps in lowland areas, while others took us into mountainous regions to hike steep trails to waterfalls and lovely views. The Coastal Plain parks we visited were Dismal Swamp, Merchants Millpond, Carvers Creek, Raven Rock, Cliffs of the Neuse, Lake Waccamaw, Weymouth Woods, Lumber River, Medoc Mountain, Jones Lake, and Singletary Lake. We enjoyed learning about the unusual Carolina bays, or shallow round lakes, typical in this region, many thought to be 10,000 to 15,000 years old. Because the lakes are shallow, you can walk far out into the the lake to play in the water – which gave us a shock the first time we saw swimmers standing in the middle of the lake! In contrast, mountainous parks like Raven Rock reminded us of the Smoky Mountains near our home.

North Carolina’s Piedmont Region sprawls across most of the middle of the state and we visited thirteen parks there during two travel visits. Many of the parks centered around glorious lakes with vast acreage like Kerr Lake, Falls Lake, Jordan Lake and Lake Norman. Others celebrated rivers or cites on rivers like Eno River, Haw River, and May River. We found William B. Umstead State Park right in the middle of busy Raleigh and Guilford Courthouse Military Park in Greensboro. Showing us the diversity of the area, other parks sat in mountainous areas like the small Occoneechee Mountain park, Morrow Mountain in the Uwharrie Mountains, Hanging Rock State Park in the Sauratown Mountains, and Crowders Mountain nestled among the craggy peaks of The Pinnacle and high Crowders Mountain. These latter parks had many steep trails winding to stunning overlooks.

Moving on to the Mountains Region, closer to our home in Tennessee, we discovered another broad array of parks to enjoy. Here among the eighteen parks we visited, on several trips in fall and spring, we explored not only state parks but many national parks and historic trails and sites. In the northern area of this region we visited high Pilot Mountain, Mount Jefferson, Rendezvous Mountain, Stone Mountain, New River State Park, and Elk Knob. Stone Mountain State Park was especially interesting with so many things to do and see, beautiful trails to hike, a gorgeous lake, waterfalls, and more. While in this upper region we visited points on the Overmountain Victory Trail, the Appalachian Trail, and then drove much of the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway – a National Parkway with stunning points and views all along its route. We visited Mount Mitchell State Park while high on the Parkway, one of our favorite parks in North Carolina, and also went to both sections of Grandfather Mountain State Park. Moving south we enjoyed Lake James State Park, a large park with two unique sections and lots of camping, South Mountains, Carl Sandburg’s national historic site, and Chimney Rock State Park not far from Lake Lure, another favorite on our travels. Starting into the far western region of North Carolina we visited Gorges State Park, hiking the trails and seeing the waterfalls, and then moved on to finish our travels checking out points on the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and exploring North Carolina sections of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Cherokee.

All in all, it was a great adventure, and we can truly say we know much more of the state of North Carolina, its cities, parks, and history than we did before. So often visiting the parks takes you back into less populated, beautiful parts of a state you might normally miss and not visit on a trip. The parks are seldom crowded like other major tourist areas so you can take your time exploring without worrying about traffic or crowds. And there is such beautiful scenery in our state and national parks. How blessed we are to have them preserved and saved for our joy and pleasure.

J.L. and I love the state parks. We have visited all the parks in our home state of Tennessee and in South Carolina and North Carolina now … and I imagine we’ll soon be ready to start visits to yet another nearby state. We hope you’ll enjoy our brand new North Carolina guidebook … and our past books, too, if you’ve missed them.  Summer is a wonderful time to visit the parks when the weather is warm, when the grass and trees lush and green, and the days long,

Order our new NC book through any of your favorite bookstores or online at your favorite Indie store, Barnes & Noble, or at Amazon.  If you want an autographed copy, you can also order our North Carolina guidebook or any of our guidebooks or my novels on our Online bookstore at: https://linstepp.com/order-autographed-books/

And remember John Muir’s wise words: “In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

See you in August… Lin

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act.

 

A botanical garden is a unique type of garden devoted to the study and conservation of plants, the garden often open to the public so they can see and learn about plant species. Usually, plants grown in a botanical garden are chosen because they grow well in the garden’s region, and most are labelled with their botanical names. Botanical gardens help us become more aware of native plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees, and acquaint us with plants’ names, purposes, and unique characteristics.

The first known botanical garden dates back to an early Chinese dynasty, but the modern concept of a botanical garden first originated in Europe when the Padova Botanic Garden was built in Italy in 1545. Today approximately 2,500 botanical gardens can be found around the world and they cultivate over 6 million plants. People today do not recognize and know as much about plants as in past generations. This phenomenon is called “plant blindness,” and the changes in our culture, that have created this lack of awareness, are unfortunate because plants are, and always have been, crucial to our survival as a species.

J.L. and I visited one of the botanical gardens in our hometown recently, the University of Tennessee Botanical Garden. The gardens developed for horticultural study at the UT agricultural campus and visitors can walk the one-mile trail of lovely pathways that wind throughout the sections of the garden. In April 2013 Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill designating UT Gardens as the official State Botanical Garden of Tennessee. The overall garden includes the garden at UT Knoxville plus the gardens at the Ag Research and Education Center in Jackson and at the Ag Research location in Crossville.

The UT Knoxville garden is open sunrise to sunset with free admission and parking. It is a treat to visit. To get to the garden, travel from Kingston Pike down Neyland Drive beside the Ag Campus. Then turn left on Jacob Drive by the Veterinary Medical Center. Park across from the garden entrance in one of the designated parking spaces set aside for visitors to use.

The pathway into the garden begins at the Welcome sign across from the parking area. The crushed gravel path soon leads into an open plaza with picnic tables and then along scenic. pathways from one section of the garden to another. Signs along the way identify the plants, flowers, shrubs, and trees, often with information about them. The plants you see at the UT Garden are predominantly ones that grow well in the East Tennessee region, offering ideas for plants you might want to try in your yard, garden, or property.

We enjoyed strolling along the walkways, stopping to study the different plants, like at the Hillside Perennial Garden and Woodland Garden. Tucked along the walking route were artifacts like an old truck and gas pump, sundials, rest benches, gazebos, ponds, memorial markers, and a large labyrinth, with iris all around it, for those seeking a meditative walk. The UT Botanical Garden has a large Kitchen Garden area, full of seasonal vegetables and herbs in over fifty raised beds. We enjoyed learning the produce is donated to area food banks.

I especially liked walking through the sculpture garden where sculptures made by UT art students could be found. J.L. and I liked the big metal flower sculpture, and he took my picture in the heart-shaped sculpture—the perfect setting for a romance writer. One garden section was dedicated to trillium, with a multitude of interesting species, while another was abundant with a wide variety of hosta.

Not far from the sculpture garden we discovered the Children’s Garden full of whimsical statuary, playhouses, treehouses, tunnels, and a plant zoo. We talked at length with one of the many volunteer gardeners there. They give hours and hours of their time to work in the garden so others can freely enjoy it. One nearby garden area was filled with species of plants that draw migratory Monarch butterflies. There is a butterfly bench and Monarch sculpture there and information about how UT captures and releases Monarchs for study.

In several areas nearby and scattered around the garden are Annual Trails, filled with more familiar plants to us like petunias, white alyssum, vinca, sedum, coneflowers, pansies, and more. Tucked around the garden paths were many flowering trees and shrubs, like dogwoods, azaleas, and rhododendrons, beautiful lush groundcovers, and unusual trees like Japanese maples and bald cypress.

Toward the end of our journey through UT’s botanical garden, we lingered in the sumptuous Beall Family Rose Garden. A big gazebo sits beside the garden, with a shady table underneath.  Across from the gazebo are two waterfalls, that tumble over the rocks into koi ponds.The Beall rose garden is a lovely spot to explore. There are over 120 rose varieties, labeled for you, like hybrid teas, miniatures, and grandifloras, all in a multitude of lush colors. Many were just blooming in late May and you can continue to enjoy the roses into the summer.  So visit soon!

There are a wide variety of gardens, in and around Knoxville, you can visit and enjoy, most free of charge. If you don’t live in Tennessee, take time to do some research for gardens near you. Also, when you travel, tuck a “garden visit” into your travel itinerary. Especially in summer, the shady trails are such a pleasure. You may not  have time, space, or the ability to do a lot of gardening at your home, but you can always take a walk in a garden nearby. You’ll find it wonderful therapy to the soul.

Before we left the garden, I couldn’t resist taking J.L.’s photo with UT’s “Smokey” mascot since we are both UT graduates. We both plan to return for more walks in this garden not far from our home, and another day want to take one of the continuing trails leading from the garden. One winds its way behind the UT greenhouse and along Third Creek all the way to Tyson Park. Another, the Neyland Greenway, starts at the back of the botanical garden and travels along the Tennessee River to the Volunteer Landing Park. There are so many treasures for us to enjoy right in our own backyards … if we’ll just seek them out.

“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir

See you again in July … Lin

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act.

“March winds and April showers, bring forth May flowers.” – old English proverb

One of the sights that most lifts our spirits as Spring arrives is to begin to see the early flowers in bloom. In most places these are crocus, daffodils, and snowdrops, followed by flowering shrubs and trees like forsythia, spirea, redbuds. dogwoods, and then creeping phlox, grape hyacinths and wildflowers galore in the mountains. …As May arrives in Tennessee, the yards and trees are rich green, with more flowers arriving daily. Ever since I was a girl, I have loved watching for the different flowers as they bloom around the yards and fields, woods and mountains. My parents were great gardeners of vegetables, flowers, and even fruit trees and grapevines… so with their tutelage—and joy in growing things—I grew up close to the earth, with a deep appreciation for growing things.

I saw firsthand the connection between flowers and how they impact feelings, health and emotions—giving people a lift in their spirits as each new flower blooms and brightens the world. Now, as a psychologist, I can tell you a large body of research has shown that flowers are deeply connected to good health and positive feelings. They make us feel good for their beauty and for our positive memories associated with them. Flowers trigger sensory engagement, create feelings of happiness, joy, and satisfaction. They invite, by their color and beauty, for us to come close to observe, admire, touch, and smell. Flowers literally make us feel happier and improve our moods.

Here as May arrives, more and more flowers will bloom where I live, with spring in full swing and the warm, sunny days of summer soon coming… So for my blog, I wanted to celebrate the flowers we’ll soon see blooming, share a few memories of each, and tell you some fun facts you might not have known.

ROSES are one of the oldest known flowers. Cultivation of the rose began about 5,000 years ago and fossil evidence, found in Colorado, dates the rose back 35 million years. The Rose is also the U.S. national flower and the White House has a beautiful Rose Garden, first established in 1913. Roses come in a multitude of varieties and colors, and many are used in perfumes and are sweetly fragrant. There are 50 types of roses from shrub varieties to climbers and ground covers. The oldest known rose, now 1000 years old, is in a cathedral garden in Germany.

AZALEAS are another old flower, first grown in English gardens and usually in the gardens of the wealthy. It is thought that azaleas were first cultivated by monks in monasteries, and they are known as “The Royalty of the Garden.” Azaleas are a type of rhododendron, can be evergreen or deciduous, and come in 1000 varieties and a multitude of vivid colors. Once well established, azaleas can spread and grow to large sizes and live up to a century. In America there are 26 species of Azaleas and in many areas of the country Azalea festivals and celebrations are held.

IRIS will soon be blooming in wide array as May arrives. They are perennials that grow from bulbs, and they can multiply on their own or be divided to multiply. The flower name “iris” comes from the Greek word “rainbow,’ named such for all the colors of the rainbow the iris comes in. Many iris are multi-colored and they can be “bearded” or “non-bearded”, with or without a fuzzy patch on the petals. My Grandmother called her iris “flags” and iris have been in cultivation since 1400 BC in ancient Greece.

PANSIES, also called heartsease, have always been one of my favorite garden flowers. The most popular pansy varieties have flower faces and as a girl I used to give names to the pansies in my mother’s flower bed. Called “The Flower with the Face,” most varieties show distinctive face designs. An old legend says that all pansies were once “white” until struck by Cupid’s arrow, but now pansies come in an incredible array of happy colors and patterns. The word “pansy” comes from the French word pensée (or thought) and pansies stand for thoughtfulness and remembrance. Pansies are also edible and taste a little like baby lettuce with a sweet flavor.

LILIES will soon decorate the flowerbeds and garden borders, too, as May enters in. Lilies are a hardy perennial that grow from bulbs, and like the iris, can multiply on their own. The lily’s blooms, with six petals and six stamens, are large, showy, and fragrant and come in a multitude of colors and types. Lilies, communal by nature, like to grow in groups of three to five –and are used in churches at Easter and in funerals because of their symbolism of purity, hope, and rebirth. Lilies are an old plant, its bulbs once used for medicinal purposes, and in China the iris symbolizes good luck and long-lasting life.

ZINNIAS, a happy and colorful flower, was a favorite of my mother’s because they made such lovely cut flowers for her many bouquets and arrangements. Zinnias, named for the German botanist, Johann Zinn, are easy to grow from seed, bloom early summer to fall, will usually reseed themselves, and are beloved by bees. Zinnias, in the aster family with daisies and sunflowers, come in 20 species and a multitude of bright colors and sizes. The more you cut zinnia flowers for decoration and pleasure, the more they reward you with more flowers.

MORNING GLORIES are a surprisingly hardy plant, and once established, can live 50 years or more. There are 700 species of morning glories, in white, red, orange, pink, purple, blue, and yellow, that bloom from June to September. However, each trumpet-shaped morning glory blooms only ONCE, opening in the early morning, the blossom closing and dying the same afternoon. I always thought this sad—but the plant produces new flowers in replacement every single day. Morning glories love to climb, so plant them by a fence, trellis, arbor, or mailbox.

BLACK-EYED SUSANS, a happy summer flower, is called the “pioneer plant” (by some a weed) because it is often one of the first flowers to spring up wild, carried by seed, into an area damaged by fire or disaster. The name probably came from an old ballad about a young girl, called black-eyed Susan, who had to board a ship and sadly tell her sailor love farewell. Like the daisy and the coneflower, Black-Eyed Susans are in the aster family and all asters are loved by butterflies, bees, and songbirds. As a plus, Black-Eyed Susans also repel mosquitoes and bugs!

All of these flowers and more—like Sweet William, Chrysanthemums, Gladiolas, Peonies, and Phlox —grew in my mother’s garden beds and flower borders in our yard and property in  rural South Knoxville. I played happily among them as a child. However, the flowers I loved the most were the wild field-flowers that grew in the woods and fields around our home. These included Bachelor’s Buttons, or cornflowers, wild daisies, red and white clover, goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace, and yellow buttercups. These I could pick freely—without asking! With these I could make daisy and clover chains, decorate my playhouses, or pick all I wished for bouquets to carry home and enjoy. Flowers were more than beauty to me as a child—they were friends. Flowers were the music of the ground and each seemed to have heart and soul. In a way, my child’s heart was tuned to the flowers—and it still is today. They call to me as I walk by, and I always marvel at those who do not see or love them.

“To me flowers are happiness.” – Stefano Gabbara

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act

I saw a children’s book the other day, based on a childhood song I learned and sang many times in school, scouts, and summer camps—“She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain.” If you don’t know this song from your childhood, I’m attaching a link to the classic song by folk Singer Pete Seeger for you to enjoy. It’s one of my favorite versions and the words and tune are more true to the original. You’ll find it by typing in the song name and Pete Seeger’s name or at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfhk0B-zTxo

As a girl who grew up near the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee… I could easily envision, in this song, this “Appalachian lady” from afar “comin’ around the mountain” for a visit with her kinfolks. Extended families were closer in my childhood years than now, and family members and friends came to visit and stay more often. Motels and restaurants were fewer in comparison to today, and people gathered more in homes to visit and fellowship than they do now.  I helped my mother plan, cook, clean, and prepare many times for “company” coming to our home from out-of-town. I also remember more family reunions, church dinners and homecomings, and family gatherings than I see today.

As I heard the verses to this old song, I could well relate to them …and to the images they created in my mind: “She’ll be comin’ round the mountain” … “She’ll be driving six white horses” and “We’ll all go out to meet her.” Many of my relatives had farms and chickens, so I laughed over the verses: ”We’ll kill the old red rooster”…“And we’ll all have chicken and dumplins.” I even laughed at the line: ”She’ll be wearing’ red pajamas” as relatives and visitors often wore some unusual garbs!

I think the songs and stories we hear—again and again—growing up help to shape us. My mother was a big storyteller and a good one, and she could sit and make up wonderful tales, which I loved listening to. So could my dad—and my aunts and uncles. I spent a lot of my young years sitting around listening to adults telling stories, laughing, talking, and visiting. Times were simpler then, and these are all good memories now.

My mother loved to sing, too—and she sang in the church choir. But even better, she sang with us at home, teaching us songs and singing with us on trips in the car. I grew up with a lot of impromptu music like this, and the words of these songs have stayed with me. In my memory bank even now is a huge repertoire of songs—and I continued this tradition of sharing songs with my own children.

I know I especially resonate with the song “She’ll Be ‘Comin Round the Mountain” because that’s what I do so much in my life now. I travel around the mountains to hike and explore. I travel around the mountains to book events, signings, and festivals. And I travel around the mountains in my imagination, bringing readers to different mountain communities, cities, and places in my books.

From the first when I started to write novels—and even our guidebooks—my heart’s desire was to bring people to the mountains I loved, to the East Tennessee areas where I grew up, and to the nearby mountain Appalachian areas I knew about and had visited.

The first book my husband and I envisioned and worked on together was THE AFTERNOON HIKER—taking readers “Around the Smoky Mountains” of TN and NC to many of its wonderful hiking trails. We personally hiked all the trails included in the book, discovering as we explored. We learned how scenic, interesting, fun, and often how much “quieter,” many trails were than the more popular ones usually packed with tourists. We wanted to share with readers how to find these trails, to tell them about each one so they could enjoy them, too.  And’s that’s exactly what we did, taking readers “around the mountain” to 110 different trails.

My novels were inspired by these travels “coming around the mountains,” too. I yearned to read more books set in today’s time in the places where we were visiting—but found none. Most books I did find were historic accounts or stories of past times… I soon found my imagination fired with the idea to create some like I wanted to read, to take readers “coming around the mountain” to the different places I’d seen and enjoyed in story. I worked hard in each to “paint scenes” of the beautiful places we’d explored, and to show the warmth, intelligence, resourcefulness, and goodness of the people. I purposed to avoid the negative stereotypes too often depicted of Appalachian people, inbred, immoral, stupid, often comical characters in overalls, barefooted, a jug over their shoulder.

My dream became a reality, and there are now twelve wonderful books in what is called The Smoky Mountain Series—each taking the reader to a rich, new, heartwarming place around the mountains in a happy new story laced with a little romance, a dash of suspense, and a touch of inspiration. … You will see these books above and you can read more about each under the “Books “heading on my website at: https://linstepp.com/books/

My Smoky Mountain books will take you “coming around the mountain” to places like Wears Valley, Gatlinburg, Cosby, Bryson City, Maggie Valley, and Pittman Center, each with a story set amid real places, shops, restaurants, hiking trails, and other locations you can go visit and see when you come to the mountains. In the front of each book is a map you will enjoy… and to my pleasure, over the years, many of the books have become New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon bestsellers and reached readers all over the world.

My fans and readers became anxious and unhappy with the idea of the series ending with twelve books, as always intended … so my editor at the time, Audrey LaFehr at Kensington Publishing in New York, said: “Twelve is enough in a series, Lin, but we can start a new series of more books set around the mountains. … Let’s see, we can call them The Mountain Home Books.” So now twelve of those books are planned and four now published! …

With The Mountain Home books I’ve been able to take readers to new places, not directly adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but close to it. This has given me a chance to “branch out” in my writing, taking readers “around the mountains” to New Places like Happy Valley below the Foothills Parkway between Maryville and Townsend, to the picturesque Arts and Crafts Community called The Glades above Gatlinburg, to historic Dandridge on Douglas Lake near Cosby, and now to Cherokee, NC, the home of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee….And there are more to come!

Through my husband J.L.’s and my other guidebooks, we have also taken readers visiting around the beautiful state parks of Tennessee, to the parks in South Carolina, and soon to North Carolina with our new state parks guidebook that publishes this summer.

Anyway … I hope you’ll “drive your six white horses”—your car, SUV, van, camper, or jeep—“out to meet us” at one of our events in and around the mountains this year. I won’t promise we’ll “kill the old red rooster” and “have chicken and dumplins” or that “we’ll be wearing red pajamas” but we’ll definitely enjoy a good visit, talking, sharing, and laughing as mountain people do.

To those of you who live far away or in another country—I hope you’ll enjoy traveling in your mind and imagination to my part of the world, and imagine yourself “coming around the mountain” to see all the beauty here and to meet the good mountain people of Southern Appalachia.

Ya’ll come back now!

I’ll see you next month … Lin

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act

Life is filled with opportunities. Some come knocking loudly at your door and a few come gently whispering, but generally they come expecting an effort from us that we hadn’t envisioned in  our daydreams about success or change. Like the old Thomas Edison quote: “Most people miss opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Thomas Jefferson might have added to that: “I find the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”

 In truth, opportunities are around us all the time, we just have to stay alert for them and go after them when they come our way. A part of the art of seizing life’s opportunities lies in keeping a positive and watchful attitude that opportunities will develop and come versus holding a negative mindset that nothing good will ever come our way,  Bad attitudes almost always cause us to miss the good things in life even when they come knocking on our door. I know I missed a lot of opportunities when younger because I didn’t recognize them for what they were, because of my youth, inexperience, and lack of self-confidence, and because of others’ perceptions and beliefs about me.  I often listened to unwise and uninformed counsel and put off or missed opportunities I should have followed. I’m sure we have all done that at one time or another. But we should never give up looking for and being open for new opportunities despite our past. As Napoleon Hill said: “Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.” So stay alert and stay expectant.

Over my lifetime, I’ve learned to go seeking out opportunities more than waiting for them to drop out of the sky for me. I’ve also leaned to create my own opportunities rather than waiting for them to knock on my door at all. Usually when I simply waited before, nothing arrived at my door. So one of my favorite quotes now is: “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door” [Milton Berle]. If you find yourself hungry for more opportunities in your life, eager for more, then begin to work at building little opportunities that will lead to bigger ones. What do you want and yearn for? Read about it. Learn about it. Find ways to wade in and participate in it. Get better at it than you are. Keep improving. And most important, don’t give up. Keep the vision and dream in your heart. Walt Disney said, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” No one becomes successful without work and sacrifice. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary” [Vidal Sassoon].

Life is about growth and change and about continuing to learn and wanting to move forward and climb higher. We are all created for much more excellence than we pursue. Too often we set our goals too low. We settle where we are. We get caught in the web of our daily habits and like a spider on a spider web, we stay right there waiting for good things to fly into our net. Habit is a very strong thing.  We get into a life habit, find friends with similar habits, and get locked into thinking that is all life holds for us. So many motivational quotes nail this mindset that often limits us, but as Arthur Ashe wrote: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

If you are feeling a little discouraged with your life, always remember that life has its seasons. Often we cannot do and accomplish everything we want to do in exactly the season we hope to. I like Carl Bard’s words: “Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” If the season you’re in doesn’t allow you to pursue fully the direction you most want and dream of, then keep pursuing your higher goals and dreams in as many ways as you can on the sidelines. Don’t decide that if you can’t “have it all” you’ll just feel sorry for yourself and settle for “nothing.”

When I taught a variety of psychology courses in my professor years, we often looked at different writers and researchers who had studied the stages of life.  I always liked Gail Sheehy’s colorful terms like “the tryout twenties,” “turbulent thirties,” “flourishing forties,” “flaming fifties,” “serene sixties,” “sage seventies,” “uninhibited eighties,” “noble nineties,” and “celebratory centurions.” I loved the concepts I taught that in all our life stages and seasons there are new and different possibilities, new opportunities to try on. It is never too late for second chances and new beginnings. As we grow, learn, mature, and change we strengthen in wisdom, talents, skills, areas of expertise, and good common sense. Life doesn’t diminish us; it just widens for us if we will see that. And it is never too late to try on new roles, to find new fulfilling interests and hobbies, to venture into new works, and to do worthwhile things.

Our goal as we move through life should never be to just retire one day, sit back, and do nothing. This would be a waste of our one beautiful and precious life.  As I travel, work, and speak as an author I always encourage a useful, generative life. Our life should continue to be full and alive not stagnant and stale.  All research has shown an active, generative life is the best and healthiest lifestyle to follow. We should always strive to live to our fullest ability, to give back to this world in all the ways we can. To live a clean, good life for a clean legacy. How do you want to be remembered? I want to be remembered as one who gave all she had every day of my life … of my gifts, wisdom, talents, and time. I always believe each day I’m accountable for how I use the gifts and hours of every day, of whether I’ve used the talents God has given me wisely and well. Erma Bombeck’s words could be my own mantra: “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything You gave me.’”

Your motivations may be different than mine, but I want to encourage you to sit down and think about your life, the good you’ve accomplished, but also what else there might be for you to do. Never think of life as finished. Always be eager and open to new life opportunities, for new ways to use your talents and time. Frankly, you also have to decide what you’re willing to give up to create more opportunities for yourself and for more opportunities to come your way. Everyone has the same twenty-four hours in every day. How are you using your time? What can you change about how you use the hours in every day? Sometimes it’s time, as Zig Ziglar used to say, to do “a checkup from the neck up” and maybe an all over physical check, as well. Poor physical shape, excess weight, and a sloppy appearance can often limit your opportunities to make the changes in life you want to, no matter how you pretend they won’t. So can poor time management habits and addictions in your life, which can even include the hours and hours of television or social media you engage in that waste great portions of your life daily and sap your mental and creative energy. Are you willing to put the discipline into your life to change? Some people will and some won’t.

Opportunity may be knocking on your door right now, but will you answer the door? If you let opportunity in, it will arrive with a huge list of “expectations” for you. It will arrive with a long list of “to dos” that will mean a lot of work and effort, dedication and love, on your part to see the opportunities develop, grow, and come to fullness. Do you feel a little fearful and apprehensive even thinking about it? So does everyone before making life changes, before moving and growing in their lives, before pushing themselves out of their comfort zones and familiar routines to move forward. A Bible scripture says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him” [Rev 3:20]. This passage is talking about an opportunity, a leap of faith that is hard for many to make, too, because it’s a giving over of oneself. I think every life opportunity has a similar moment when it knocks and you decide if you will answer. These can be life-changing moments. So stir up your heart and mind to seek, look for, and welcome new opportunities for change.  What are you yearning to do? What is your heart calling you to? “True change begins with the heart and then is nurtured by the mind. You have to yearn for it before you can acquire it.” [Sam Villanueva]

I believe all people say, if only to themselves, that they yearn for new opportunities in their lives, ways to make a difference, ways to make a mark on the world. We all do, deep within, We were each created with a destiny. Jane Goodall wrote: “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” You may not feel significant or important, but you make a difference every day in your life. And perhaps you could make more difference. Sometimes the reason we make “little difference” is because we don’t make the effort to reach out and accomplish the things we should. Here’s an important thought to tuck in your heart today: Before you were born, God gave you a purpose. Jeremiah 1: 5 says ‘before I formed you in the womb I knew you” and another version adds “I set you apart for a special work and purpose.”

As the trees and flowers awake from their sleep of winter to welcome spring, let’s shake ourselves and wake up, too … to “bloom more where we’re planted” … to find things we can do to make a difference in our world, to live a life doing and accomplishing things of worth and value.  Mary Oliver wrote: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” I ask you that today, too … as does the Lord. Remember, you can’t get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you.

Today is your opportunity to build the tomorrow you want. So, make your life matter. Seek and create new opportunities for your life. God has designed you for His purposes and there is so much you can do. You are unique and individually made. There is no other like you, and no one can do the things God intends for you to do in exactly the same way that only you can do them. Be encouraged today. As Mr. Rodgers used to sing: “You are a very special person. There is only one like you in the whole world.”

See you next month …

Note: All photos my own, from royalty free sites, or used only as a part of my author repurposed storyboards shown only for educational and illustrative purposes, acc to the Fair Use Copyright law, Section 107 of the Copyright Act