This is the sight that greeted me this past Tuesday when I went to my car to go to work at 6:00 AM on a cool, Fall morn’ here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. What a wonderful way to begin the day, my eyes being filled with the wonder and beauty of our nearest celestial neighbor. But unknown to me at that moment, there were more wonders yet to come.

After my 30-mile drive, as I drew near to my work place, my eyes were once again filled with an amazing sight. And what made it so amazing was that even though the darkness had been swallowed by the arrival of dawn, hanging there in the pale-blue sky, just waiting to be plucked, was the same silver apple that had lit my early morning only 40-minutes earlier when I left my home. It was an astounding vista, with the mountains as a backdrop and the colorful fall foliage below as the ghostly Moon raced on to westward heading onward to the other side of the world.

There was yet one more surprise awaiting me, for as I made a 180 degree turn after taking this photo, my eyes were blinded by what had snuck up over my back while concentrating on the silver apple fading into the western sky. I now found the eastern horizon filled with the fiery brilliance ol’ Sol, that golden apple that illuminates our world with life-giving warmth. It was a stunning sight, filling me with joy and thankfulness for being alive to experience such a majestic moment.

And such is the beauty of this place I call home. What a perfect start to what would have otherwise been just another dull and dreary day of work. Needless to say, I was in a good mood the entire day. Those silver apples of the moon and golden apples of the sun have never failed to inspire me, and there’s a story behind that, one which I will soon share here with y’all, a story which I promised to share with Lynndee some time ago. But as things have went, she and I got distracted by other things, if you will, and began creating our own special story. So if nothing else, I owe it to her to tell the rest of this story about the poem that filled a young boy’s mind with silver and golden apples and led him on a life long search for a mystical glimmering girl, a journey that eventually took him half-way around the world to finally find her waiting there for his arrival, which in itself gave answer to her own special search.

I believe in magic, and it’s always there just waiting to be discovered. There is a magic in words, magic in this world, and magic in people’s lives if only they believe in it, open their mind, heart and eyes and search for it, and reach out and grab it, not letting the moment slip away. On this morn’, my entire being was open and I was blessed with three magical moments. And as for me, in more ways than one, I truly am a believer…..now.