Blue Ridge Country May/June 2023 - 70
By LAUREN STEPP
I
RIGHT: The signature
blossom can dominate
mountain areas when
May and June arrive.
BELOW: Rhododendron
thickets can serve as both
great areas for hide-andseekers
and as a bane to
hikers and other outdoors
explorers.
DAWNFIRE PHOTOGRAPHY
'm not a sentimental person. I hate
schmaltzy love songs, am nauseated
by trite Hallmark movies and
have been known to toss time-worn
trinkets in the trash whenever they
start to gather dust. But for all my
cold-hearted pragmatism, damned
if I don't get dewy-eyed when I talk
about rhododendrons.
It's odd, I know. But these waxy-green
plants have been a constant in my life.
Growing up in the mountains of Western
North Carolina, I spent almost every
Saturday playing hide-and-seek in a backyard
rhododendron thicket. I remember
climbing on all fours through the knotty
limbs, holding my breath as neighbor kids
counted to 10. Rarely did they find me in
that damp, inky place.
On frightfully frigid days in the thicket,
the woody shrubs curled their greenery in
silent protest. Rimed with ice, the tubular
leaves looked like frostbitten fingers
trembling in the wind. Later, as winter
slipped into spring, the verdant vegetation
unfurled to reveal a dazzling display
of blooms. There were coral-pink flowers,
deep-purple flowers and flowers the same
shade as tulip poplar honey. Some plants
even blushed fire-engine-red and clementine-orange.
As
a child, I figured those blooms
were the most beautiful things on earth.
But as I got older, life drifted away from
that twisted tangle of branches. Like
most kids reared in the Southern Appalachians,
I spent my teenage years swallowing
my southern drawl and planning
an escape to flatter ground. I visited colleges
in Charlotte and Raleigh-places
my daddy said had more opportunities
than our sleepy-eyed town. I even traveled
as far north as Massachusetts and
was accepted at Smith College, an all70
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Blue Ridge Country May/June 2023
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country May/June 2023
Blue Ridge Country May/June 2023 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country May/June 2023 - Cover2
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