There is something about the early-morning drive over the Smokies that gets me to thinking about a lot of stuff I don’t normally ponder. (I don’t like to “ponder” too much; it can be exhausting, you know).
Maybe it’s the post card views that beckon at almost every curve on 441. Those virgin forests with the occasional hawk gracefully swooping over show nature at its best. The Smokies are an oasis in an area that otherwise teems with tourists on both the Tennessee and Carolinas sides.
Or perhaps it’s the way that the little subcompacts as well as the behemoth SUVs slow down on the steep, winding drive, perhaps a sign of respect for nature – or maybe a healthy fear of police patrols.
Me, I’m taken with the streams that seem to race alongside the road, bubbling and frothing as they spill over the rocks. Sometimes I like to pull into one of the many rest stops just to watch the water play over the rocks.
Likewise, I’m impressed with the tiny waterfalls that spill from the rocks above the road.
Whatever.
An item for this week’s paper got me pondering as I drove from Gatlinburg to Cherokee for an overnight stay late last week.
The front-page announcement is a public service announcement – community newspapers try to run as many of these as they can cram into each week’s edition – for Seymour’s “Spring Roads and River Day” cleanup on Saturday, April 4, between 9 a.m. and noon.  Please note: There’s a lot of ground to cover so the organizers need plenty of help.
The fact that there are so many people out there who blithely drive through our area dumping their trash from their cars is troubling for me because it’s an indicator that too many of us have yet to realize this is wrong and we need to take better care of the landscape we inhabit. But it’s encouraging that there is a cleanup day at all because it shows some of us still care enough to want to help.
The organizers of the cleanup, Keep Sevier Beautiful, say past events have historically brought out plenty of volunteers, but sadly the turnout for last year’s cleanup was very low.
Seymour is a beautiful community. Like so much of Tennessee’s landscape, it is characterized by rolling hills, green fields and farms and older well-kept homes complimented by well planned suburban developments.
But that beauty is endangered when anyone dumps their burger cartons and giant slurpy cups out of their vehicles on to our roadsides. We may not be the guilty trash-throwers but we still pay the price for their stupid behavior.
Individual volunteers are most welcome, but it seems to me that well-organized community groups like Scouts, 4-H clubs, Rotary and Kiwanis and Lions Clubs should take on this worthwhile challenge.
On page A-1 of this week’s edition you’ll find a couple of phone numbers to call in order to volunteer.
Well, what are you waiting for? Start dialing.

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