John Shearer: Enjoying Cades Cove In March

I have been to Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the winter, in the summer and in its most visited time of year — October.

But for some reason, I don’t believe I have ever been there in March. On Friday, I changed that, as my wife, Laura, and I took a drive around the 10-mile loop. The weather was in about the mid-60s, the sky was perfectly blue, and I have now decided March is my favorite time of year to visit this area of farmland and historic structures.

The traffic was not too bad, at least on a weekday, and I did not sweat or get too cold when I climbed out of car four or five times to view a building, some wildlife or a natural area up close.

And one attraction was there that I had never seen before in Cades Cove — the daffodil flower. Every few hundred yards a row or two of daffodils was spotted, meaning that an old homestead was once there.

I walked through a field to get a picture of some daffodils, and I had the sensation I was back on our Mountain Creek family farm, which my father, Dr. C. Wayne Shearer, and my late mother, Velma Shearer, sold in 2004. I guess it has been awhile since I walked through a pasture!

Cades Cove, perhaps because it is apparently a little elevated, seemed to be more than a week behind the rest of East Tennessee from Knoxville south, as no red bud trees could be spotted. But there was plenty of other beauty.

All in all, it was a great visit to Cades Cove and a relaxing and peaceful day.

jcshearer2@comcast.net