Plaasabilities

Sharp-lobed hepatica (H. acutiloba) blooming along Cove Hardwood Nature Trail the first spring after devastating wildfires scorched the area in November, 2016. Great Smoky Mountains National Park © 2017 Kristina Plaas Persistent (adj): lasting or enduring tenaciously. Every year at the time I take my camera out to find wildflowers. I look for them everywhere, but I have specific locations where I know I will find the flowers. One of those locations, a nature trail through old growth forest, was one of those places affected by the Chimney tops 2 wildfire last fall. The fire, once small and well-contained, was whipped up by hurricane-force winds to wreak much devastation in the Smokies. All winter wildflower lovers asked themselves, "What ab out Cove Hardwood, what will happen to the wildflowers?" In my first foray up the trail after it's reopening this week, I found the flowers. They were small and many were a bit bruised and banged up from recent rains and storms, b...

Rosebay Rhododendron (R. maximus) at The Sinks. Little River Road, Great Smoky Mountains National Park © 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved Some days it's all I can do simply to hope that tomorrow won't be a repeat of today. Of course that doesn't always happen, some things by their very nature are repetitive. We never mind when nice things repeat themselves, but it's those not-so-nice things that we'd rather not experience over and over again. Today was about staying home and doing those repetitive chores that I dislike -- laundry, dishes, mopping floors, more laundry, sorting through piles of stuff and tossing out what is unnecessary, hauling trash out to the dumpster, more laundry. Just when I thought I had a task completed something would happen and I'd end up redoing part of what I had just completed. Grumble, grumble, sigh. It can't be helped, I know, but I still sigh. In my weariness and frustration I was trying to decide what I should e...

I was visiting with a friend last night and we were talking about an adorable little girl that we know from our church family. We shared our respective experiences on how this child had touched our lives, not by anything major, but simply because she was who she was. I thought back to the countless smiles and cute remarks that had melted my heart, how much this little girl resembles her mother, and how I could see the impact of a loving family and nurturing home environment in this child's demeanor. In short, the cumulative effect of a lot of little things brought out the best in this child of God. She is beautiful in every way. Children are good at noticing little things. It doesn't take much to please a child. Simple things are often the best things to a little child. As adults we tend to focus of the big things. In our busy lives we fail to take time to notice little things, let alone be grateful for them. One of my favorite scripture verses from "The Book of Mormon: ...