My Appalachian Mountain Home

Cairns, fairies, a hobbit house, and glacier moraines surround my house deep in the Appalachian Mountains. Because my ancestors settled here from Ireland and Scotland, these mountains call deeply to my soul.
This morning it was -7° C. and the wind was howling. The clouds had frozen on the trees and rocks during the night and it was beautiful and very eerie ... a different kind of hoarfrost than usual. I tried to capture the feel of it on film but the light was rather flat.
This video was made especially for my wonderful friends at MetelProductions. This isn't the rock field ... I'll film that for you in the spring!
MUSIC: "Ghost Is Broken" by Aaron English (audioswap)
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[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much for taking time to post your lovely, sensitive comments to both videos. Such a special thing you have done! I cannot tell you the amount of pleasure and joy it brought me for Yves-Marie to make music for this mountain. The mountain has sung to me all my life and now I find myself and my friends singing back to it... life can be purely amazing sometimes! HUGS to you!! Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks, Rod. You're so incredibly kind. One of the best things about KZbin is meeting great people like yourself.

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks, Jon...those kind words mean a lot coming from someone who has such a lovely channel! I've lived in treeless places before and while there is beauty to be found there as well, it doesn't enchant me the way mountains do.

[@suuzzee5]

ivmar, you have reduced me to tears ... thank you for your lovely, lovely sentiments. That is the most beautiful thing anyone has ever posted to one of my videos. Hendrix is a long-time favorite... HUGS TO YOU!!!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks, Will...that means a lot coming from you! Mountain life is not for everyone, but for me it's enchanting and filled with the absolute wonder of small and ordinary natural things. For a long time last summer, I watched bugs work a downed tree and contemplated how I could be so aware of them but they never noticed me. It makes you keep a certain perspective on yourself to be so invisible to another's busy, important world. :)

[@suuzzee5]

Hello Pete, thanks so much for stopping in, also for your kind words. I hope some day you will be able to visit the Appalachians. These old mountains are lovely beyond description and there is a sense of magic everywhere.

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much, Judy...you are very kind. The Appalachians are my heart and I love doing videos about life here. We have lots of family in the Atlanta area and are in and out of your fair state all the time. Thanks again for stopping by! Suze :)

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks for coming to watch the original video. I love the music Yves-Marie wrote for these images, also the editing he did ... he has a magic touch. So glad you liked this version as well.

[@suuzzee5]

That's a beautiful love story and obviously your magical powers are working. :) Keep planting those trees and keeping spirit with the rain. And thank you for your lovely comments about this video ... I am especially fond of rocks and stones and love the cairns and stone rows that were placed on the mountains in the 1700s and 1800s ... they tell a story ...

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks, Woody. I was just up there tonight with the camera... beautiful day to film! Thanks for stopping in... :)

[@suuzzee5]

LOL!! Stalk away, darlin' ... stalk away ... You've made my morning! :)

[@suuzzee5]

Thank you! That is one of the most insightful and sensitive comments I've encountered. In 1998 I returned to these mountains from many years in the cities, and it was the best move ever! Life has now regained its own rhythm. If you can go to the quieter landscapes even for short periods, perhaps you can regain some of that which you seek. Each day here is new and fresh and natural and goes about its business without much regard for me. I love that! Makes me feel part of the fabric...

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks for stopping by... I love it here. The isolation and pace wouldn't be for everybody but it suits me very well.

[@suuzzee5]

It's so wonderful that you found those cairns and are connected to them. Many people would have simply passed them by. But you did not.

[@suuzzee5]

Thank you for putting it among your favorites!! That is always such a thrill to see when somebody does that. Thanks again!!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much, Bill!! So glad you really liked this video.... I appreciate all those stars and the fave and share. You're the BEST... and that's a fabulous FRIENDS poem you have on your channel. Kudos!!! :)

[@50peacegirl]

Very mesmerizing to watch and to listen to. The fairies are truely enjoying their life hidden away in these beautiful mountains away from all the dangers of the outside world. I wish I could live there among them in a carved out little place in a big old tree. I would invite them all in for tea.

[@pianogirl98]

I can feel the cold and fresh air in the mountain! Thank you for the beautiful video!

[@suuzzee5]

Boone is one of the loveliest places on earth! I used to ski there every winter and also stayed in a friend's cabin on a small lake...don't remember the name...in the summers. When people love the Appalachians, it is with a deepness and a yearning that defies description. But all of us who feel it recognize it in one another. Glad you are one of the Highlanders! HUGS! Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Hi Bob... you're really keeping my channel busy tonight! That's not a complaint... lol Thanks for your encouragement. Winter is my favorite time to film because you can see the skeletons of everything and the colors are so muted.

[@suuzzee5]

You're so welcome! Thank you for loving it and for stopping in to tell me...

[@suuzzee5]

I hear you, man. It's not for everybody. Appreciate your stopping by, also your honesty. Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Teruko5...you are one dedicated lady! Thanks so much for wanting to see this video enough to do a 2-hr download!!! You get the award for KZbin heroes!!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much, Frans! It's a beautiful old mountain... has a very gracious and wise feel to it, like a grandfather. Thank you for our comments and for all those stars! So much appreciated! Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Hello little Rainbow... :) My eyes adore the soft colors of winter...the hushed browns and grays of late November are so very beautiful. There is nothing so intimate as walking alone in the deep woods on a gray-sky day among the bare trees with their wet, brown leaves underfoot and that earthy, woody smell in the air.

[@suuzzee5]

Ahhh, my sweet coffee-drinking friend! Thank you so much for stopping by! Yes, I am among the luckiest...I wake up each morning to hills that know peace and harmony...is my fondest wish for the rest of the world.

[@daviemcf]

What a great video! looks quite like Scotland,also loved the celtic music,thanks Suze. 5*

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks for your comment! I was at Grayson Highlands this past summer for the Wayne Henderson Festival...great music, had a good time, beautiful park! Thanks for the trail directions, will be sure to find Saddle Back next time I'm there. Peace, love and light.... Suze

[@suuzzee5]

You can take the man out of the mountain but you can't take the mountain out of the man. :) Thanks so much for your insightful comments. I'm glad you got to see this video and found a little touch of home. I grew up real close to the Tennessee line and lived everywhere under the sun, but these mountains were the only place that I ever called home. Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Thank you for your lovely comment, Jane... and also for making this video one of your favorites. You are right... this is a beautiful place to live and I feel very fortunate every day to be here in the mountains. Thank you again for stopping by... please come back any time!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks Rudy! Looks very different now all dressed in flowers and greens.

[@suuzzee5]

Hi Tammy...I'm so thrilled to finally meet you! Your video is beyond awesome and you're a wonderful rider. This is horse country for sure. I started riding when I was 8. Dad and I used to ride out and round up the cattle... then he got a border collie and got lazy. :) He used to show jumpers for Virginia Tech when he was a student there 100 years ago. :) So glad you came by my channel! HUGS!!! Suze

[@suuzzee5]

What a lovely thing to say! I do know what you mean because these YT videos transport me all over the world. It's truly magic!

[@suuzzee5]

Gio, you are really good for one's ego! Thanks so much for your lovely and personal comments. Am not sure what the TV show was that you watched as a kid but it sounds wonderful. Very very cold here this morning...I'm ready for spring. No more snow videos! lol I sound like a Canadian... BIG HUGS!! Suze

[@petermateer]

Your description is poetic and reinforces my wish to see the Appalachian mountains and surrounding area some day. Beautiful. Pete

[@annsva]

my heart feels a void away from my mountains, you've captured part of the reason why

[@suuzzee5]

Hi DV...Thanks for your kind words...much appreciated! This kind of isolation is not for everyone but it suits me very well most of the time. Lived in cities for many years and they also have their charm... Please stop in any time!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much for stopping in and for leaving such a nice comment. Much of Appalachia is depressed economically and I think the area near Hazard is probably about like here where I am in the far southwestern part of the state.

[@suuzzee5]

Can I take more than one book? I would never be able to choose just one! What an amazing artist is Andy Goldsworthy!! Thank you sooo much for turning me on to his work...that book on STONE looks amazing...

[@suuzzee5]

Grazie per le vostre parole gentili, Roberto!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much! I love them also!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks you for your lovely comments! I am also astounded to bring the world into my home in such a personal way. KZbin for me is mainly music and places...and I get to know both through wonderful and gracious people such as yourself. The Hague is very beautiful...would love to visit someday. Here in the Appalachians, internet connection is either via satellite or wireless. Some people still use dial-up. Peace, love and light to each of you! HUGS.... Suze

[@lepaintre123]

What luck, power, wake up in the morning, in this place of sublime nature, you are sharing your joy of living in a place as nice ... Thank you for sharing ... jacques de paris

[@Cliffbrock]

Wow ! A poetry/song Heaven. There are thousands of poems and songs just wanting to be written in thoses hills. So very beatiful and again thank you for sharing. --:)Rod

[@suuzzee5]

Hi neighbor ... thanks for stopping by and leaving a nice comment. You've got a fantastic mountain music voice, Art! Got that high lonesome going...

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much, Jane. I hated to use an audioswap on this video, because I loved the Hevia song that the video was developed around. But it's all good...I still go the original on my hard drive. :) Hope you're getting ready for a sunshiny weekend!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much, Davie...am so glad you like the video and the music. I have many Scottish ancestors ... and plate tectonics theory says that our land masses were once joined, that our mountains were once connected eons ago. The beautiful blue-green serpentine in the rocks is said to occur in only two places on earth...your western coast, our eastern coast. It's why our mountains have that blue cast to them. Pretty cool if you ask me! We may even be cousins... lol

[@canajian]

I went over & checked it out & HOLY MOLY!! LOL people are going to get sick of me raving about how good things sound LOL

[@dcaballo8]

Such beautiful photos! The music you chose is absolutely perfect. A truly magical and timeless place. You are very fortunate. So nice of you to share it with the world. Simply gorgeous!

[@suuzzee5]

That's a lovely thought ... Thank you for that!

[@suuzzee5]

Hi Antonio...YT has been acting up for several nights. I messed up three posts in one night because of frustration/forgot which post I was on. Please don't think a thing about it. Glad you liked the video and THANK YOU! for being so kind and persistent in getting your posts on here. You're the best!!

[@suuzzee5]

No no!! Quite the opposite! You are such an amazing musician, great ear and all that ... and your comments on your new sound system are so joyful and energetic that it's contagious... Love it!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much for those generously kind words! You make such fabulous videos and I always hold my breath to find out what you think. As for the things around me...there is so much wonder and mystery and beauty in the natural world that it just about brings me to my knees sometimes. Gibran said that "beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror." Isn't that the most lovely thing!! HUGS always to you! Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Thank you so much for this lovely comment! Am glad you enjoyed the video. It was lots of fun to make and living on the mountain, I am sure its spirits and fairies keep me safe from harm. :)

[@spotswoodthenewt]

I was still in high school too...in a Psychology class, it pulled like crazy towards the water pipes. The teacher didn't tell any of us who used it where those pipes were...we all pulled in the right spots. Different water pipe locations, no less.

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much for watching this video and for leaving such a personalized comment. I just checked out your channel and you have some amazing videos over there! Thanks again... Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much for sharing your feelings and passion for the high lonesome. I'm sure your little Cairns would be right at home here. The Appalachians and the mountains of the west coast of Britain were one and the same range before the continental plates drifted them apart so many years ago.

[@suuzzee5]

Glad you liked the video and the music, Nancy. Hevia is one of my favorite groups...the Spanish influence tilts the Celtic stuff just right, keeps it from being too cute or sweet. This place that I live...so deep and slow and old. When I walk these hills, I am accompanied by spirit ancestors, both Native American and European.

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much! Greatly appreciated!!

[@suuzzee5]

Salut Jacques, il est toujours si bon de vous voir! Thank you for the lovely comment. All nature is sublime and you are correct that I have joy from living in the wild mountains. :) Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Thank you so much for your patience and persistence in getting your comments to post! I appreciate that more than you know...YT has been steadily growing more cranky since the first of the year. You mentioned Bryson's book... you definitely would love it here if you enjoyed that book. I live 3 minutes from the AT by car, about 30 straight up by foot... lol

[@red05hemi]

Very beautiful! Cool music as well! Love the mountains. thanks Suze

[@suuzzee5]

What a cool thing to have in your very own back woods! I would film it and take pictures from every angle. Some of the mountain land owners here have allowed the ancient cairns to be dismantled and have sold the stones for building blocks. I cried and cried over that. So sad to lose that beautiful old history. So disrespectful!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much for your kind comment. I can tell from your channel that you would fit right in here. I lived in the cities for many years and while they have charm, I hope never to move away from the mountains again. Well.... living beside the sea on a wild beach would be fine. Outer Banks maybe.

[@wdciii]

Ah Suze!!!! These mountains are so much a part of me! I have been drawn to the Highlands since moving to Boone in the seventh grade. You have touched a DEEP chord with this video. Thank You! -Dennis

[@Cameragirl803]

Just love this one! had to pop back in tonight!

[@suuzzee5]

So glad you liked it...thanks! ivmar1 from France created music specially for this video and it's on his channel as a different video altogether. He's an astounding musician...and as funny and kind a man as you'll meet on KZbin. I just meet the nicest folks on here ... people like you! :)

[@suuzzee5]

Shas, thank you so much for leaving such a lovely comment on this video. I do appreciate it so much, especially from a fellow traveler.

[@DanJohansonNYC]

Simply beautiful!

[@ShasCho]

Lovely video. It's your words that touch my heart especially. Thanks for posting this. You are a gem. *****

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks for watching this video and taking time to comment on it. I'm so glad you liked it. This road is so narrow and harrowing that only the locals use it to cross the mountain. I have several photos of it that were taken back in the mid-1800s when it was still a buckboard track. It looks like a freeway now compared to then! lol

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much, Cindy. Greatly appreciated. Your mountains look lots like my mountains. :) Peace ~ Suze

[@melvynplantmusic]

Hi Suze, your home looks very beautiful and peaceful. I can see why you write such wonderful words, you have some spectacular inspiration....Mel

[@suuzzee5]

Thank you so much for stopping by and for leaving such a sensitive comment. If you feel homesick, you probably have ancestors from the mountains. :) The Appalachian Mountains range was once joined with the mountains in Scotland and western Ireland. Their kinship is given away by the beautiful blue-green serpentine in the rocks. That's what gives the Blue Ridge Mountains their blue color when you look at them. Peace, love and light always with you ... Suze

[@suuzzee5]

I enjoy making new friends and am happy to have met you! Always happy to meet people from the Appalachian region. Popcorn was something else! lol

[@suuzzee5]

The fairy houses are near my house and have been there for over 100 years. So glad you enjoyed them! I need to do a video just about them and their wee occupants. :) Peace ~ Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so very much!

[@suuzzee5]

Thank you for watching and for leaving me all those stars! HUGS!! Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Hi Ann...I know what you mean about the void... I have lived many places but never called any other place home. Plus Mom is Irish and Dad is half Scottish so I come by it honestly. :) Glad I was able to capture some of what draws you... your part of the state is so very beautiful and majestic. I love the Shenandoah National Park ... and the Parkway through the Valley region is simply magnificent!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks, Ann! I think YOU are awesome! Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much for your wonderfully personal comment. I am blessed to live in a safe, beautiful part of the world and for that, I am thankful every day. The people here are as lovely as the scenery... they truly are! Perhaps someday you will visit these old hills.... :)

[@suuzzee5]

Thank you so much!!

[@suuzzee5]

Thank you, Vivian, for liking this video and for your sweet comments. You are very right that the air was cold and fresh that morning! I was an icicle when I got back to the house... :)

[@barrel2burn]

Hey Suze, Chris was right, I wish i did live here to ride my horses, omg they would love it, very beautiful pictures. Tammy

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much, Rachael...so glad you liked it!

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks Twish! Please visit any time... it's always teatime at my house but you gotta clean up yer own mess this time! :) The fairies stay the winter in the hobbit house and during the warm months, they live under the wild rose bushes on the mountain. Have never seen any hobbits here but all mischief on the mountain can be directly attributed to the fairies. For example, if you come visit and drink too much wine and fall off the mountain into the creek, obviously a fairy pushed you ... :)

[@suuzzee5]

Do you go by Cliff or Rod... I'm never sure. Thanks so much for dropping by and watching again. And thank you for all those stars and the fave. I do know how it is to have life get in the way of KZbin... lol It's always so great to see you!! HUGS!! Suze

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks so much for visiting this morning... at my house, the sun comes up with a big pot of tea. I love the stuff and don't care whether I really need it or not. lol I'm hanging out on your channel right now, just heard the rain from your log cabin porch. :)

[@cameragirlJane]

Just love the fairy home!! This is so cool Suze!!!

[@rudyvandam]

Had a re-look! Great images, perfect music

[@itsstilljustme]

Woow...you live in heaven!!!! I am so envious. I always dreamt of living in a place away from the urban jungle. Great video Suze!

[@suuzzee5]

Jess, I would be hard pressed to tell you what the mountain fairies are up to. They are here, there, everywhere...just going about and doing as they please. That little stone shelter has been there for over 100 years. The fairies are up to mischief most of the time and their presence comes in handy when folks get in the moonshine and fall off the mountain...they can say the fairies pushed them. lol

[@bentonio07]

Gee, I left a comment here last night, seems like the old KZbin bug is back :-( Anyway I wanted to know who left these nice and favorable comments and came here. Wow, how absolutely beautiful. Every since I read Bryson's book on the Appalachian I thought I'd love to go there. Now I'm sure: very beautiful

[@suuzzee5]

Yes...horses in snow are always very arresting, very beautiful. I don't even know how to put up channel wallpaper...sad but true. Glad you like the Appalachians...go ahead and move closer...we got room! :))

[@suuzzee5]

Thanks for the kind words, Rob...glad you liked the video. But before you pack up and move on down, it does snow here. Maybe isn't Ottawa deep but it's snow! :)

[@suuzzee5]

Glad you like the video and the cat...she thinks she's very cute. btw...I love the background wallpaper on your channel! Awesome!!

[@riddlespider]

What a beautiful place!!! Thanks so much for sharing. Loved the music also. I have a great sound system also and this sounds wonderful on it.

[@ScottCrothers]

Bodine hootin' at ya'! Wow! What a nice place. I'd trade the cesspool I live in for that kind of serenity! 8-)

[@Cliffbrock]

Hi Suze, I came back to watch this again. 5 stars and a favorite . I'm looking forward to your next video. I've had things happen that have taken much of my time, so I sure understand it if you've been busy. You have a very fine channel with beautiful poetry and videos. --:)Rod

[@suuzzee5]

Joanna, thanks for your lovely, lyrical comments. You're one of the most amazing people on KZbin...your way with words is always a delight. My house is plain and simple, but my home is enchanted and beautiful and magical, as you said. I take no credit for any of it...all I have to do is walk out the door and it's there to be appreciated. It's like the beach that way...another much beloved place! Most of the fairies live under the wild shrubbery but some do live in the hobbit house ... :))