One of our newer residents, Bill McKown, took these fabulous images from his back porch.  The top image is recent and the bottom one is from last winter.  Every morning, we get incredible sunrises over the Black Mountain Range.  

The not so well kept secret is that sunsets also can be very awesome.  We often get what is called "bounce" as the rays of the setting sun bounce onto the clouds in the east.   Some of us also have a view from our front porch or side porch of direct views to the west over the mountains also.  Our condos sit on a ridge on the mountain, with views to the east and to the west.  

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Every year, the Property Owners Association at Mountain Air hosts the Ferrari Club.  They enjoy the three mile ride from the gate up to the runway at the top of the mountain.  They get to do time trials on the runway and have lunch.  We residents get to enjoy the show.  This year, a few Heritage Ridge Villas residents invited friends and we sat along the side of the road to watch the Ferraris roar up the mountain.  In the video below, you get to see a view from a drone.  It's a nice tour of the mountain.  

One of our residents, Louise Lindsay,  created the following interpretation of her favorite red Ferrari, as it sped by in a time trial on the runway.

#FerrariClub #FerrariClubAtMountainAir

Last week one of our residents drove the Blue Ridge Parkway from 80 S to past Mt. Mitchell. She had the privilege of witnessing an afternoon of the great Monarch Butterfly migration from all over Canada and the eastern US to Mexico. Thousands of Monarchs were pausing on their 2500 mile journey and refreshing themselves (nectaring) on the Blue-ridge wildflowers. You could see them all over the wildflowers and everywhere in the sky. Pure heaven. She stopped at every overlook, sat in the grass, and simply experienced this awe-inspiring event.  She shared these pictures with us. 

In the landscape images of the views from the overlooks, you may be able to see the butterflies in the sky, although it's hard to see on small internet images.  

Normally monarchs live 2-6 weeks. The monarchs who fly south to Mexico live closer to 9 months. The same butterflies start the return trip to the States and Canada. They start an inter generational relay of sorts when they reach Texas, as one generation dies out, and successive generations carry on the migration back to their many northern homes! 

If you look up to the skies above and around Mountain Air, often you see the monarchs flying through in the fall.  The Nature Center in the Mountain Air Village also has coccons which hatch and a whole program dealing with monarchs.  Stop by to take a look.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/…/

monarch-butterfly-mig…/
https://journeynorth.org/…/10032019-riding-ridges-traveling…
https://www.monarch-butterfly.com/monarch-migration.html
#MonarchMigration #MonarchButterflies #nectaring #BlueRidgeParkway #GreenKnobOverlook #BaldOverlook

The HRV board, under the guidance of Carol, has had all of our flower beds enhanced with beautiful new flowers this year.  We have not yet had a frost, and so the flowers keep on blooming.  Our resident photographer, Louise, writes:

“For Presence
Awaken to the mystery of being here
and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
. . .
Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek
no attention.
Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven
around the heart of wonder.”

~ John O'Donohue ~
(To Bless the Space Between Us)

#PurpleConeFlowers or #Echinacea are still blooming in the mountains of NC. I have been nurturing them in the gardens outside my condo, along with the help of Carol and a few others. They are a little beaten up at the end of the season, so I hand painted in the petals a bit in Photoshop, to give them a more painterly and less pocked appearance. I also love the imperfections and quirks, especially in end of the season flowers. But this time I decided to go with the hand painted version.
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The colors are also sometimes a bit more faded at the end of the season, but I think that has its own beauty too. Each day, as I leave to walk my dogs in the morning, or to go off on errands or a hike, I am so happy to be greeted by these flowers.

A Heritage Ridge Villas resident's daughter, Emily, visited and took this picture of the view from the 18th  hole.  The 18th hole is right next to the Heritage Ridge Villas, and is one of the most photographed places on the mountain.  We hope that everyone has been out enjoying great games of golf.

More than one of our Heritage Ridge Villas residents are from Florida.  Some of us were attracted to buy here because not only do our condos provide a beautiful home away from home, or year round home, but they also offer shelter from the Florida hurricanes.  Some of us sought shelter here.  Our residents live in the Florida Keys (experienced repairable damage), New Smyrna Beach (little damage), the west coast (escaped flooding and damage), St. Augustine (minor damage), Miami, etc.  Many of us have enjoyed the shelter of the mountains, both during Hurricane Irma, and during the disorder of the aftermath.  We are all grateful that damage was minimal, and grateful that our North Carolina mountains provided such good and beautiful shelter.  We are saddened by the devastation caused around the world this year by so many natural disasters.  

​Of course other residents are from many other parts of the country, including New Orleans, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Charlotte, NC, South Carolina, etc. 

Louise Lindsay contributed this "After The Storm" sunrise image, taken from her Heritage Ridge Villas' living room porch.  

The weather has been gorgeous here at Mountain Air.  The past several days have been comfortably warm and sunny.  Some of us have been hiking on the glorious trails here.  Below is a view from the first look out on Jump Off Trail.  Simply drive over to Timber Sky.  Download the hiking trail map on this website, or get one from the Outdoor Discovery Center.  There is a trail head over in Timber Sky, that takes you to a gentle trail along the top ridge of Mountain Air.  You arrive at a lovely lookout, where this picture was taken.  Then, you can continue on up a steeper trail, to an even higher lookout if you wish.  The first part of the jump-off trail is gentle and easy, even for beginners.

Many Mountain Air residents saw the partial eclipse from Mountain Air, and others traveled to nearby places to experience the total eclipse.  Mountain Air's Outdoor Discovery Center chartered a bus and took a large group to Clemson University.  Louise and Steve coincidentally also stopped at Clemson University on their drive up to Mountain Air from Key Largo, FL.  It turned dark, and the cicadas started chirping.  
 

© Louise Lindsay 2017

No, this was not taken at Mountain Air.  Most years I am at Mountain Air for the Perseid meteor showers in mid-August.  Kat, our naturalist, always has a great program on the runway at the top of the mountain.  It's a great place to view the meteors.  But this year, I am still in Key Largo.  It is also a great place to view the meteor shower.  The streaks here are star trails, as this image was created from tons of images stacked together, taken over 40 minutes.  The stars move and create these beautiful star trails.  The horizontal streak across the image toward the bottom may be  a plane that crossed my path, rather than a meteor.  But maybe it's a meteor.  

​The meteor showers are still active tomorrow night, 8/13/17.  Be sure to look up at the sky if you are awake at night.  

Old cars, of all sorts.  The police chief and his wife, from a local small town, And the "burn out" contest at the Poplar Car Show.  Photos © Louise Lindsay

​For those who are old car fans, or who simply love old time Appalachian parties, check out the Poplar Car Show, coming up on August 27, 2017.  Louise Lindsay and her husband and their two poodles have enjoyed these shows in the past and hope to attend this year.  ​Louise had a lot of fun practicing "street photography" at a prior trip to the Poplar Car show and shares some of her photos with us.

Poplar is out in the middle of no where, but not too far from Mountain Air.  There is a huge field, full of old cars.  Then there is the local "burn-out" contest, where cars compete to spin their wheels and see who can create the most "smoke and burn".  There are food concessions with "funnel cake" and all sorts of Appalachian specialties.  This show is mostly for mountain locals, but is very welcoming of guests.  It is a beautiful drive through the country to get there.  

We get to wake up in our beautiful condos with their long range views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We get to enjoy our lovely summer coolness brought by our 4,000 ft. in altitude.  But at our finger tips, adventures await.  A short drive to Asheville brings us all the restaurants and riches of city life.  And a drive through the country brings us the Poplar car show, the world class arts and crafts at Penland School of Crafts, and all sorts of theater, concerts, and literary events very nearby.  Or we can stay put on our mountain all day, enjoy our local hiking trails, eat in our lovely Mountain Air restaurants, and rock on our back or front porches, after a lovely massage at our Mountain Air spa, or a relaxing yoga class, or tennis game, or round of golf.  

A homeowner, Carol, sent us this beautiful image.  How lucky we are!  We get to wake up every morning to this long range mountain view from our condos.  And then we are only a 35 minute drive to nearby Asheville, and yet we are in the high mountains, with more altitude and the lovely coolness that comes with it.  On mornings like this one in the image, we are also gifted with glorious views of cloud inversions, drifting through the mountain ranges.  In this image, and from our living areas, bedrooms, and back porches, we get to look out on the glorious Black Mountain range.  Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak (6,684') in the Eastern U.S. is part of this amazing range.  And then, more gifts.  We are only a 10 min. drive to our lovely local village, Burnsville, where there is ample shopping,  and all the artists and crafts you could want.

We attended the opening of H. Allen Benowitz' photography exhibit.  It is up for the next week, and we recommend seeing it.  It is at TRAC (Toe River Arts Council) in nearby Spruce Pine.