Wildflowers in the Smokies

Everywhere you look along the road and riverbanks and along the trails in the Smokies,
the wildflowers were blooming in abundance.
As I drove from Gatlinburg to Cherokee on the last day of my trip,
the gorgeous Virginia Bluebells were blooming in small grassy areas along the road,

As I stopped to photograph the Bluebells, I couldn't help but take a few images
of the Daisy Fleabane which was interspersed throughout the Bluebells.

Gorgeous bright yellow Buttercups were in large patches in the higher elevations of the park.
All along the road bright sunny patches of Buttercups greeted me as I rounded each curve.

Bluets were competing with the Buttercups in the higher elevations.
Where you didn't find large patches of sunny Buttercups, there were thick patches of Bluets along the road.
Honestly, I had never seen the Bluets so thick in such large patches. It was simply beautiful.

Can you guess this next image? Yes, wild Ferns were growing especially plentiful along the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail.
While Bluets are one of my favorite wildflowers in the Smokies, the wild Ferns are so beautiful.
In Kentucky I really don't see them so lush as the ones I see when I visit the Smokies.
I wrote this post tonight in hopes of distracting myself from the tragedy at hand.
My niece is in surgery in downtown Louisville for the third time this week.
Mind you this week is only half over. She is in critical condition.
It is as if someone has reached into my heart and tore it out.
My brother and sister in law, and everyone in our family,
are in such pain. I ask for your prayers.