TheBanyanTree: Cutting Through the Cut - II

[B Drummond]

   Yesterday I was in Charlotte, NC, also known as the Queen City.  Why?
Well, I don't know, maybe Charlotte was the queen in the Queen City
moniker.

   What?  Oh, THAT why!  Well, I had to work there, of course.  I  
don't just
go traipsing around, with gasoline, though cheaper than it was, let's  
say,
a month ago, still higher than a kite!   No, sir, I aint got that kinda
money to burn! (the only money I got to burn usually comes fresh off the
photocopier)

   Today I had to be in Knoxville.  So, yesterday after I finished my  
work,
I went through the big Cut.

   I-40 runs from Knoxville to, well, all the way to Petersburg,  
Virginia
where it connects to I-95 if you go east.  (You well-educated might  
prefer
to call that location the terminus)

   When the interstate goes from Tennessee to North Carolina it must  
cross
what many consider to be one of the most ancient mountain ranges in the
world.  You cross through a low spot in this range (you well-educated  
might
prefer to call that a pass)  when you make the trek mentioned above  
between
these two states.  I affectionately call it The Cut.

   The view of the mountains (called the Smokies there in that area)  
that
parallel the highway on both sides is breathtaking.  The Pigeon river
flows alongside the highway for most of the way as well, especially  
in the
lower sections of the highway.  Rock outcroppings, a huge variety of  
trees,
now decked with fall colors of orange, yellow, brown, green and subtle
shades in between are worth the drive alone.  But no matter the season,
when driving through the cut I'm always amazed at the magnitude of
nature's scale and its effects working my way through the endless curves
that take me through this pass.

   You best not speed through there . . . and why would you?  You'd miss
the chance to get good glances at the nuances of the mountain sides, the
flora and even the man made "scars" upon the land.  You pass through two
named forests, by state historical markers, bridges, old mills, and  
such a
variety of goodies that it just doesn't make sense to go by at blurring
speeds.

   And then there's the other reason:  North Carolina state  
troopers.  A word
to the wise is sufficient.

   Oh, friends and neighbors, if you ever have to go this way, slow  
down, go
in the daytime and soak in all that awaits you in the Cut. There's  
nothing
like having moutains towering over you to cut you down to proper sized.
You'll enjoy every thrilling minute of it -- well, unless you receive  
an official
greeting from a North Carolina state trooper, that is.



    bd
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