Publisher column: I'll take mountains over the beach

By Randy Capps

As I write this, my wife and mother-in-law are speeding toward Virginia Beach for a weekend of fun in the sun. They’ll have a blast, I’m sure, but my nirvana happened a few weeks ago when I got to spend a long weekend in the mountains near Cashiers.

I didn’t see a mountain until I was a freshman at Gardner- Webb, but I’ve been captivated by them ever since. I guess it’s something about perspective and having a constant visual reminder about how small I am and how insignificant most day-to-day things really are.

On our first morning there, I decided to get up and watch the sun rise. I wrapped myself in a blanket, left my cellphone where it was and wandered out on the deck. Looking back, I wish I would have brought the phone with me. But since I didn’t get a picture, I’ll just tell you about it.

The sun was hiding behind that rather large mountain, making the sky around it a lovely shade of light purple. There was a fairly stiff breeze going from right to left, which made me grateful for the blanket.

It turns out the wind, plus that fun mountain combination of cool nights and warm days in springtime, creates a nice little show on the mountain. As the sun worked its way over the ridge — and it took a while — lowlevel clouds were brushing past the mountain. It almost looked like the smokestack of a factory was back there somewhere, mass producing clouds instead of smoke.

I'm not the biggest nature lover, but I ignored my chattering teeth and sat there for almost an hour.

It was the kind of wonder I can't find in a beach chair.