Pardon my romance, but I have writer's block, and romance is the easiest thing for a romantic.

I am fighting through a significant writer's block today. These are the days that are the reason that I started blogging in the first place, to make myself write even when I didn't really want to or have anything to write about. Now, having stalled sufficiently, I shall start writing, like Anne LaMott and so many others say a writer must do. Just start writing. Today I will go for melancholy and romance. I think it's the heat. So I apologize in advance.

I want to go back to Elrod Falls.

A few years ago, after a long, hot day of work on a mission trip, our group ended the day at Elrod Falls for a picnic. The entrance to the park and dusty parking area were dilapidated, with fallen rusty chains between the cracked fenceposts and dangling and broken signs. No one had told us what the falls were like. It seemed like it was going to be the kind of evening that I hoped would end quickly so I could get to the showers, rest a bit, and get to bed.

My hard working group was later than most in arriving. We stumbled along the winding, up and down rocky trail through the woods, guided by the sound of rushing water and laughter. Suddenly there it was, Elrod Falls, a towering flat faced rock formation with water cascading down to a pool below. About halfway up was a waterfall. It was heaven.

On this hot July 11 I wish I could go back to Elrod Falls, to the laughter, to the rock slide, to the cold water of the falls massaging the heat from my shoulders, while the golden rays of a late summer evening streamed through the thick umbrella of towering hardwoods. It was perfect. And I never expected such perfection to arise on such a trip as that.

But isn't that the way it is. Sometimes the best things in life happen when you aren't expecting it, when you're on the way to nowhere, when you're too tired to say no, or when the perfection of the moment is just overwhelming. Sometimes the best things begin in such insignificance, like a glance, a touch, or a word that makes one stay. Insignificant like the small creek at the headwater of Elrod Falls. It is just a trickle up there, but after a mile or two, by the time it reaches the rocks of the falls, it is something beautiful, something perfect, something timeless.

Yea, I need to get back to Elrod Falls. I bet it's still there.

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