The Quiet Dignity of Appalachia

 

Photo by The Appalachian Project
Phelps, Kentucky

        There is a quiet dignity about the mountains of Appalachia.  An old, settled sort of grandness that comes with age and maturity.  Other mountains may be younger with sharper peaks and deeper valleys, but Appalachia doesn't have to show off.  She's not a youngster trying to make a name for herself.  She has the quiet dignity of an elegant majesty much like an old lace doily draped over a family heirloom table.   And just as in your grandmother's old parlor, there comes a stillness in the Appalachian hills.  The stillness oozes from every creek, every rivulet, and every stone in each and every holler.  And all the more so when nature pulls the grey blanket of fog over herself to settle down for a well earned early winter rest.