On July 2nd, I visited my fourth location on the North Carolina Fresco Trail -- E.H. Sloop Chapel in Crossnore at the Crossnore Children's Home and School.
~*~
I did not want to drive through Boone, but that's the route I drove to get to Crossnore. I thought maybe since App State is out, it wouldn't be as crowded as when school is in. And it wasn't as crowded, but it was still crowded. Highway 105, a mostly-two-lane, not-to-curvy mountain road, is always busy. July 2nd was no exception. But I enjoyed getting a view of Grandfather Mountain and driving by Profile Trailhead. I have fond memories of both.
It's a beautiful day for a drive, especially through the mountains. I arrive at Crossnore and drive onto the campus and grounds of Crossnore School. It's a pristine campus, but not in a stuffy way. It's welcoming, homey, peaceful. It feels cared for with love.
As my manner is, my first task is to find a bathroom. (Haha... Maybe I should write a book for women, "Where to Squat.") I've learned that not all these little chapels have a public bathroom.
I see a small building. It's bathrooms. Yay! But they are locked. I stand out in the parking area and look around searching for any bathroom-looking buildings. As I stand peering, two young boys around 10 years old show up on their bicycles.
"Hey there... I like your bikes."
"Hey there... I like your bikes."
They smile. We talk a little about bike-riding, the outdoors, and mountains. They say that they like it here at Crossnore. One of the boys shares, "I used to run with my dad in the mountains. One day we ran 10 miles!"
"Wow! That's a long way!" I respond realizing his sharing may be an innocent exaggeration, but maybe not. My heart feels for both boys. I wonder what/if something had happened to the one boy's father and that's why he lives here. But I dare not ask, of course.
I did ask something else...
"Do y'all know if there is a public bathroom in the chapel?"
"Yes!" one boy excitedly answers providing me detailed directions on how to get there.
We say our friendly good-byes, and away they ride on their bicycles. All three of us are smiling.
I climb into Sir Edward the Explorer and drive to the parking area for the chapel. There are no humans anywhere to be seen.
~*~
I enter the chapel through the handicapped entrance toward the back of the chapel, near the pulpit area. I turn left to make my way to the front of the chapel where the stairs are located that go down to where the bathrooms are.
There, above the front entrance doors, I see the large fresco entitled Suffer the Little Children.
I pause momentarily taking in the breathtaking scene which includes the beauty of the chapel itself with its deeply colored wooden pews and walls, its windows, and the deep red carpet that leads from the chapel entrance to the pulpit.
Then I follow the boy's perfect directions downstairs to the bathrooms.
After my bathroom visit, I spend probably fifteen minutes or so downstairs viewing the various paintings. I enter The Miracle of Healing room. Hanging on the wall is a painting which appears to me to be the woman who touched the border of Jesus' garment and was healed. In front of the painting is a kneeler for prayer placed on top of a small throw rug. That is all that is in the room...other than myself.
My critical mind notices the crowd around the woman isn't large, as stated in the gospels. But that's okay with me. The focus in the painting is on the healing and this woman's reaching out for it.
The room feels sacred, holy...
My heart feels open...
Life feels large...
I take in the painting and enter into it...
I know I shouldn't touch the painting, and normally I wouldn't. But in that moment, I very lightly, deliberately, and quickly touched the hem of his garment with my index finger.
I have touched his garment. May I too be healed...
I make my way back upstairs. Again, like with my visits to other frescoes, I am a lone human in this unique, beautiful, sacred chapel. I press the button for the narration about the fresco and how it came to be here at E.H. Sloop Chapel. I take a seat in a front pew and enter the fresco as I listen to the recorded narration....
~*~
 |
| The Miracle of Healing |
 |
| Suffer the Little Children |
 |
| Suffer the Little Children |
 |
| E.H. Sloop Chapel replica |
 |
| E.H. Sloop Chapel |
I take a different route, avoiding Boone, for my drive back home. I end up on roads that I haven't driven in decades. The sky is that gorgeous blue with white friendly clouds. There are few vehicles on my route. These kinds of drives are a part of these fresco visits.
I stop at Brown Mountain Overlook on Hwy. 181. I lift my small cooler out of Edward and make my way to one of the picnic tables to eat my supper. Of course, I look around for a place to maybe use the green-leaves relief station. I see a path into the woods. Yay!
I meet a family who moved to Morganton from Mexico some years back. We exchange hellos and talk about the mountains. They love this area.
I deeply experience Carolina Rolling By...
My heart overflows with gratitude...
On July 6th, I post a short thread on Twitter about my trip...
 |
| Table Rock and Hawk's Bill |
 |
| Overlooking Brown Mountain |
~*~
