On The Road To Watervalley
After a long run down a deeply wooded lane, the road made a sharp bend and opened up to a spectacular view of the valley below. The trees continued up the steep slope to the right, but to my left was a wide overlook offering a complete vista that stretched for miles. I stopped the Corolla to take it all in.
I had stepped into a different world. A broad floor of velvet green rolled toward tall hills in the distance. Along the wide plane were small dots of houses that grew closer and closer together as they progressed toward the town. In the far distance was a lake and in between stood Watervalley, outlined with the prominent points of church steeples.
A sweet, warm breeze swept up from the valley and rustled the high leaves of the nearby trees. The air was filled with an incredible clarity and an amazingly unfamiliar silence. The common cacophony of the city was distinctly far behind me.
So this is Watervalley, I thought, curious. Admittedly, the view was captivating, almost mesmerizing. The shoulders of the distant hills framed the stunning panorama before me, the wide sweep of the incredible Tennessee valley. I stood at the precipice of my new life as a small town doctor. And I remember in that instant, if only for a second, that something in the wind and sun, the endless roll of green fields and meadows, and the magnificent blue of the vast sky held an unspeakable enchantment for me. It was beautiful beyond words. For a brief moment, my regrets were forgotten.
Description of Luke Bradford’s first view of Watervalley. From More Things In Heaven and Earth: A Novel Of Watervalley.
