“The most beautiful gift of nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see.” –Albert Einstein

Invited for a weekend getaway, I was recently a guest at a relative’s home in Virginia that sits at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains* and is a stone’s throw from one of Virginia’s 250+ wineries.

Having driven through Virginia more times than I can remember – always heading somewhere else and with little time to comprehend where I was or what was around me – my visit turned out to be a most pleasant gift, reminding me of the restorative power of nature’s beauty.

From climbing Humpback Rock, touring Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, and an afternoon spent “vineyard hopping” – at Trump Winery in Charlottesville, Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards in North Garden, and King Family Vineyards in Crozet – I continually felt the soothing presence of the Blue Ridge Mountains, lingering in the background at every turn.

A majestic spectacle to behold, Thomas Jefferson – whose Monticello (Italian for “little mount”) sits atop an 850-foot summit in the Blue Ridge Mountains – once remarked,

“It is impossible for the emotions arising from the sublime to be felt beyond what they are here…[t]he rapture of the spectator is really indescribable.”

The Blue Ridge Mountains are truly enrapturing, leaving one breathing a little deeper while wondering upon the next return.

Virginia, as the saying goes, is for lovers. Indeed it is, for lovers of beauty, of nature, and of the simple pleasures of life.

*ATG Note of Interest:

The Blue Ridge Mountains are named for the various shades of blue that powder the skyline year round, caused by hydrocarbons released by trees into the atmosphere.

Continue delving into all things nature with our previous posts:

Springing with Flowers

Falling into the First Day of Autumn

Let there be Light

The Magic of a Winter Evening Sky