My favorite haunt in the mountains is Jasper, a small town yet untouched by much commercialization, even though it is a busy tourist spot. I was pleased to see MacD’s had been shut down.
The mountains mark the passage of time for me. I try to make it here every summer and have been doing so for the past fifteen years. I see which lakes rise and fall. I see the change in the colors of the waters. I wonder if it’s just the season or this year’s precipitation, though in my heart I suspect the cause is the damaging consequences of industry's over-production without check. And, I’m saddened that millions of years creation in the making are affected so quickly by our thoughtless influence.
When I’m in the mountains, it seems that I can’t get enough of the reflective nature of the mountain lakes, the immobility of the giants of stone, or the refreshing babble of the rushing rivers. The smell of mountain air carries a life and freshness in it, rejuvenation in every breath.
And as the weekend draws to an end, the chatter in the car usually dies down and we all fall into silence, hungrily devouring the scenery, knowing that too soon the mountain scenery will pass from our view.
Yet, as I pass the last mountain, I still can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
No longer enclosed, I feel like a weight has been lifted. I remember how much joy I get from watching the setting of the sun, the patterns of the clouds, the colors of the sky.
I love the mountains.
But, I’m at home with the horizons of the prairies.
11 comments:
Lovely trip Honor. I too love the descent back to the prairies: hot summer scents filling the prairie air that feels thicker and warmer with each meter of descent. Like going from the miso soup of the mountain air to the split pea and ham of the prairies.
Home for me too.
M
Oh wonderful trip. Such beauty. It does take the breath away. But nice that you can reflect, on return, that you love where you are the best. Thanks for your comments On my Sunday post. They were great. I commented on my post. Be well, Suki
Breathtaking
And beautiful
“Mountains come out of the sky
And they stand there”
I feel them and my heart longs to touch them
But then
I am wrapped up
In prairie sky
I want to run
Fall in the grass
Anticipate the sunset
And then
The stars
I had a wonderful trip, thank you very much. Good for you, Honour, to return regularly to where you find such refreshment. The high desert does that for me and I've neglected my trips to Steens Mountain, my favorite place, for too many years now. You remind me that, despite my deepest hope, the scenery there changes as more visitors are accommodated. I have changed. It's time the Steens and I met once again...
mountains are
far-fetched
dreamy
and tall
prairies
under my foot
real
and flat
one talks of 'me' to be;
'me' i do not know yet
the other of 'me' i am;
'me' i know and live with
and i love to look at the mountains to find 'me'
while i am walking with 'me' on the fresh grasslands
.
lovely post... more than the descriptions... so reflective...
I was just saying earlier today how, on my first trip to the mountains, I actually was brought to tears upon reaching the top. I just had no idea that it would give me that reaction...
It is a breath taking experience...
Thank you for sharing the pictures.. I haven't been in quite a while.. I cannot wait to return.. Kayce
Ah... my favorite place in the whole world... it's a temple... no other way for me to describe the place... the temple of earth... I'm so jealous ...
I went for a walk along the canal paths the other day - for about 6 miles. It was amazing that the canal runs right next to the main road, yet it's an oasis of calm and beauty (apart from the shopping trolleys in the water!)
I love cycling too because even though i live in a city you can get out into the countryside within a few miles and have nature all to yourself
Beautiful photos - i would like to ask your permission to use one as the basis of a painting?
1) Wow, those are some breath-taking pictures. I can definitely sense the perceptions you describe. I also hate the fact that industries completely neglect the rivers, forests and wildlife around them to conduct business.
2) Please, don't mind me as I shamelessly plug a past post here, as the scenery in the third picture is exactly what I pictured when I wrote it. Except replace the river mouth with grassland and move the two hills a little closer. And make them a little steeper. I guess I was actually picturing a valley.
Michael - I love your analogy of the mountain air to miso soup ... so true!
Suki - I'm glad you enjoyed the trip. Small repayment for all the lovely journeys you have taken me on.
Bobbb - I can see you know what it is like to live under our open skies :) thanks for the vivid poem.
Lydia - It is good to visit those places that rejuvenate us! We often put other obligations first, don't we? Please post pictures of the Steens when you get there ...
HB - many me's indeed. HB, you seem to understand how there is duality in everything I do and undertake (except maybe writing!) ... and how this duality is ok!
KC - Glad you enjoyed! Yes, sometimes I take my mountains for granted. Forgetting they are a true wonder of the world ...
Hopper - despite the changes, many things about Jasper are constant ... don't worry - you will always be able to visit it again :)
DFTP - yes, it is important to have nature accessible, isn't it? my prairie picture is taken a five minute drive from my house ... a little plot of land used for university agricultural research -- open to the neighbors for walking. (you can see buildings in the far corner of the picture) ... of course --- paint, paint away!
samurai - glad you enjoyed the picture ... and of course you can plug previous posts. that's the great thing about blogging -- you realize and recognize that there are a number of us with the same stream of thoughts out there - though we are separated by distance ... it makes the world less small and more warm, i think
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