{"id":7014,"date":"2016-02-15T11:55:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-15T16:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/?p=7014"},"modified":"2019-05-15T13:50:05","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T17:50:05","slug":"out-of-the-mist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/?p=7014","title":{"rendered":"Out of the mist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buckets of water are hitting\u00a0the windshield. I expect to see fish on the car’s hood. <\/span><\/p>\n

The forecast for home, where we’re headed, is freezing rain.<\/span><\/p>\n

The temperature in Chattanooga<\/a> starts out around 38. Then\u00a0we cross into Georgia, and the temperature drops a few degrees. As we head further east, closer to home, the temperature goes to 34.<\/span><\/p>\n

At Carter’s Lake, the Visitor Center is closed. We have to relieve ourselves in the brush next to the gate.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I step away from public visibility, I see\u00a0a tiny spark of color. The first bluet in bloom. That pale lavender and a dot of yellow at the center. <\/span><\/p>\n

Five weeks until spring.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wrapped in mist, the lake unwinds slowly. The wash of white doesn’t come up to the guard rail.<\/p>\n

At the main gate for our community, an\u00a0attendant tells us\u00a0the roads are frozen at the higher elevations. “Our house is\u00a0at 2,000 feet,” I tell her, and she says that’s around the freezing point but we should be OK.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"misty<\/p>\n

The temperature is 34, then 33. We wind our way\u00a0slowly up, one layer at a time.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Honey, I can hike home from here. Honestly,” I tell Tom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s fine, I’ll get you home,” he says. He is confident in\u00a0the four-wheel drive.<\/span><\/p>\n

I keep my eye on the temperature gauge. It holds at 33.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You never know, when pavement is wet, whether it could be icy. Sara has texted me that they have iciness on their deck. How cold is the pavement from the night before?\u00a0How quickly will the water freeze in those small indentations of asphalt?<\/p>\n

It’s still 33.<\/p>\n

We make it.<\/p>\n

I’m anxious, but I write. I talk to my book buddy. I look at my photos. I try to meditate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember the mist\u00a0was beautiful over Carter’s Lake. The\u00a0view was serene and you didn’t worry. You\u00a0were happy. <\/span><\/p>\n

One bluet is enough sometimes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today’s penny is a 2008, the first year I saw bluets.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buckets of water are hitting\u00a0the windshield. I expect to see fish on the car’s hood. The forecast for home, where we’re headed, is freezing rain. The temperature in Chattanooga starts out around 38. Then\u00a0we cross into Georgia, and the temperature drops a few degrees. As we head further east, closer to home, the temperature goes … read more Out of the mist<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[321],"tags":[137,82,728,732,498,720,730,731,729],"class_list":["post-7014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tress","tag-137","tag-beauty","tag-bluet","tag-driving","tag-flower","tag-ice","tag-lake","tag-mist","tag-spring"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7014"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7021,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014\/revisions\/7021"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lisaschnellinger.com\/pennies\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}