I’ve been having some anxiety issues these last few weeks, so I was apprehensive about last week’s 52Frames “Greetings From” theme. I usually don’t have a problem getting to our regularly scheduled activities when the ol’ anxiety is acting up, but going out just for the sake of going out isn’t something that’s high on my To Do list. (To be fair: It rarely ever is. The anxiety just enhances my desire to stay home.)

I was pretty sure “Greetings From” wasn’t short for “Greetings From your living room, where you’ve been holing up whenever possible,” though, so I figured I’d need to get my act together and leave the house.

There was only one day last week that I had any time to go out in search of a picture. Thursday was chilly and overcast, and it turned out to be a perfect day for me to go to the Biltmore Estate. I nearly had the place to myself!

I’ve been to Biltmore a few times before, but I’d never made the hike up to the Diana statue that sits above the estate. I decided I’d start there this time, and it was worth the effort. (I was out of breath by the time I got to the top. It isn’t really a super-difficult walk; I’m just very out of shape.) There was no one else up there, and it was chilly and quiet and so peaceful. It was just what I needed.

They don’t let you take pictures inside the house, so I just spent about an hour walking around the grounds. I only saw about 15 other people the whole time I was there, which is pretty unusual considering it’s one of the top destinations in the area. I guess cold Thursdays in late January aren’t their peak days.

In the end, my favorite picture of the day was the only one I took on my phone. I was walking back to my car, and I turned around and liked what the sky was doing so I snapped a quick shot. The house is such a mammoth thing, and I really like how the sky minimizes its size in the picture. It’s still an enormous structure (not to mention a reminder that there are some insanely wealthy people in this world), but it’s always important to keep things in perspective.