![](https://objects.artspan.com/member/praible/1200/4023184.jpg)
Sheltered
Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Pisgah Forest of North Carolina there is a trail that because it is enclosed with rhododendrons feels protected from the elements. We hiked in the late fall in early morning fog when cool wind was sweeping up the mountain. I learned later that this trail was called “shut in” trail by those using it to travel from the Biltmore house in Asheville to the family hunting lodge deep in the forest 15 miles southwest. The piece in the niche is a found object from nature that seemed to enhance the emotion of being protected.