The Necklace

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  “SHE WAS one of those pretty, charming young ladies, born, as if through an error of destiny, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no hopes, no means of becoming known, appreciated, loved, and married by a man either rich or distinguished; and she allowed herself to marry a petty clerk in the office of the Board of Education. . . .  She had neither frocks nor jewels, nothing. And she loved only those things. She felt that she was made for them. She had such a desire to please, to be sought after, to be clever, and courted.” —THE NECKLACE Guy de Maupassant    France, 1884 (pic by Grok) Read this short story here:  https://americanliterature.com/author/guy-de-maupassant/short-story/the-necklace

Looking Back

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They say you're not supposed to look back, but every once in a while the past creeps up unawares.

Back in 2015 this pic (above) was snapped on the peak of Celo Knob (6,327 ft). We had just climbed out the valley and were on our way down that cloud-shrouded trail you see behind me, on the way to Mt. Mitchell (hidden).

This last weekend, we were up in the mountains where I enjoyed this view (below) every time I looked out the window or stepped outside. Sometime after we were getting settled in, a neighbor nearby pointed across the valley, indicating the Celo Mountains.


My eyes popped out of my head when I learned that the highest peak behind me, the one furthest in the distance, was Celo Knob. That entire spine of the mountain that runs off the right (in the picture) was traversed by me and two friends four years ago, summitting 8 peaks and ending on Mt. Mitchell. 


Celo Knob, making clouds



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