Laura Handley
COVID changed many things, but some were for the better. After three decades of a high-stress law practice, 2020 brought me both the time and the desire to find that perfect mountain sanctuary. I was looking for somewhere as rugged and unspoiled as my childhood home in the Adirondack Mountains. I spent most weekends scouting the mountain rivers and streams of North Carolina with my faithful sidekick Fozzie Bear (who keeps the other bears away). Once I found the perfect acreage where the Cane and Toe Rivers join, I put my legal skills to work to iron out the problems that can so often accompany mountain land purchases. Once we closed the deal, I realized I wanted to make this my full-time home. This journey was so fulfilling that I decided to become a licensed realtor and put my legal and real estate skills to work helping others to achieve their own mountain dreams. Now, when I am not out scouting or showing land, I'm busy with my new garden, resurrecting my old fly-fishing skills, or hunting mushrooms in the hills and "hollers" of my new home.