January 16th, 2019

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Good Morning,

It’s currently 23 degrees and cloudy up top. We still have 1” inch of snow on the ground. We received no new precipitation, but it looks as if that might change. Hard to tell what the mountain will do, today. Expect plenty of ice on the trails up top.

24 hour temperature range | High: 30 Low: 16

NOAA 7-Day Forecast 
Mountain - Forecast Weather
Smokies Road Info

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Wrestling off the weight of yesterday, I drag on my overalls and do what must be done. I begin the day as if it were my last. The weather report harmonizes with the smell of smoldering coffee grounds. The warm lantern light invites me to sit down. Grabbing a book, I oblige.

My ice traction creaks loudly up the trail. A dark cap of clouds began to roll in, menacing. I wasn’t deterred. To be honest, I had no choice in the matter. My heart would carry me up the dark corridor whether the rest of me wanted to or not. Such is loving the mountains - such is loving the light.

Like the warm glow of a lantern, the morning light called...

I obliged.

Onward,
​Seth

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“It is six A.M., and I am working. I am absentminded, reckless, heedless of social obligations, etc. It is as it must be. The tire goes flat, the tooth falls out, there will be a hundred meals without mustard. The poem gets written. I have wrestled with the angel and I am stained with light and I have no shame. Neither do I have guilt. My responsibility is not to the ordinary, or the timely. It does not include mustard, or teeth. It does not extend to the lost button, or the beans in the pot. My loyalty is to the inner vision, whenever and howsoever it may arrive. If I have a meeting with you at three o’clock, rejoice if I am late. Rejoice even more if I do not arrive at all.”

​- Mary Oliver