“There comes . . . a longing never to travel again except on foot.” ― Wendell Berry, Remembering
“I was the world in which I walked, and what I saw Or heard or felt came not but from myself; And there I found myself more truly and more strange.” ― Wallace Stevens, The Collected Poems
“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.” ― Søren Kierkegaard
Traveling on foot is my favorite way to see the world. It calms the anxieties that arise when I try to go far and fast. I like noticing small details. I like stopping to take in the perspective of my surroundings and my inner thoughts. I like relying on my own body and appreciating it. I am content with the beauty and wonder that I’ve been able to encounter in the areas I’ve ambled. I also enjoy seeing photos of places upon which I will never set foot. There is so much to enjoy on this amazing planet!
“Crater Lake inspires awe. Native Americans witnessed its formation 7,700 years ago, when a violent eruption triggered the collapse of a tall peak. Scientists marvel at its purity—fed by rain and snow, it’s the deepest lake in the USA and one of the most pristine on Earth. Artists, photographers, and sightseers gaze in wonder at its blue water and stunning setting atop the Cascade Mountain Range.”
“Iron Mountain Lookout, located in the Willamette National Forest, was a fire lookout structure that stood on a prominent rock pinnacle above Highway 20. While the lookout is no longer there, having been destroyed in 2007, the site is still a popular destination for hiking and wildflower viewing. The mountain itself is part of the Old Cascades and offers stunning views of the surrounding peaks, including the Three Sisters.”
“With its ideal location on the magnificently rugged Oregon Coast, the entire city of Newport is a natural observatory that offers a number of fun and educational activities for the whole family. Spend the morning exploring tide pools, combing the beach for fossils and spotting marine life in their natural habitats. Then head over to the Oregon Coast Aquarium where you can pet an octopus and walk through a glass tunnel surrounded by sharks. Newport is also home to two lighthouses, one of which is the tallest on the Oregon Coast. Historic Nye Beach, with its colorful cottages and laid-back atmosphere, is the perfect spot for a picnic and a quick rest from all the sightseeing.”
You hold in your hands a guidebook of destinations. With a rush of excitement, you realize that these are not far away, they are within a few hours of your home. How were these amazing places formed? What is their geological history? What species live there? What kind of seasonal changes affect them? Are there trails there that I can hike? And finally, how can I get there from here?
There is so much to learn and so much to live for. I am so grateful to have such beauty surrounding me! Thanks to Tina for inviting us to share so many things we’ve learned and for her examples of photography techniques
“The storm is out there and every one of us must eventually face the storm. When the storm comes, pray that it will shake you to your roots and break you wide-open. Being broken open by the storm is your only hope. When you are broken open you get to discover for the first time what is inside you. Some people never get to see what is inside them; what beauty, what strength, what truth and love. They were never broken open by the storm. So, don’t run from your pain — run into your pain. Let life’s storm shatter you.” ― Bryant McGill, Simple Reminders: Inspiration for Living Your Best Life
Have you ever been on a road trip and discovered that you were heading into a storm? Have you felt time hanging around you while your brain rifled through options? Do I change course…stop here…or go on? How bad could it be? How bad will it be? Do I trust myself to adapt to what I find and keep myself safe? Can I keep my car safe? What if I find others on the road who are not safe?
I have been parked under an overpass crowded with cars while a hailstorm ran over us. I have been parked at the side of the road while hail buried the windshield wipers and made them completely ineffective. I was not the one behind the wheel then. I once drove through a blizzard in Utah, talking the whole time to the passenger beside me. And on a perfectly calm summer day, I was in a car accident that killed my sister. I know myself when I’m worried, when I’m scared, when I’m braving through, and when I’m completely overwhelmed and having a panic attack. I’ve encountered myself on road trips. And I’ve encountered others. I am grateful to have learned some very important lessons about life, and safety, and kindness, and what is really important.
The storm is here. I am leaning into the lessons I’ve learned and keeping my hands steady on the wheel, my eyes locked on the horizon. I trust in a rainbow future.
Thank you, Beth of Wandering Dawgs, for joining the Lens-Artists host team. Your first challenge is inspiring! I look forward to more.
I’m in complete agreement with our Challenge host, Egidio, when he says that being in the great outdoors is his favorite destination. And his photos of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park inspired me to re-visit my favorite adventures immersed in America’s Best Idea.
“National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” – Wallace Stegner, 1983
In 2017, I took a trek through western U.S.A. and visited eight National Parks. You can read about my American Adventure in the blog posts under that heading above, or click HERE. This year, I am eligible to get a Senior Lifetime Pass, meaning that for the price of one annual pass, I can visit National Parks and Monuments and Forests for the rest of my life without paying any additional fee. What a fantastic birthday present!
On the trail to Angel’s Landing
My first visit to a National Park was to Acadia in Maine. I was only three years old. I made my trip up to Angel’s Landing in Zion 45 years later. Now I’m 62, and my next Park visit will be to Crater Lake here in Oregon. I’ve had many other Park experiences in between. Here are some highlights!
Left to right, by row: Olympic National Park, Wind Cave National Park, Bandelier National Monument, Badlands National Park (top and bottom), Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Dinosaur National Monument, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Mesa Verde National Park.
“The establishment of the National Park Service is justified by considerations of good administration, of the value of natural beauty as a National asset, and of the effectiveness of outdoor life and recreation in the production of good citizenship.” – Theodore Roosevelt, 1912
All very good, Mr. Former President, but the Parks are also a whole lot of FUN to be in!
Ann-Christine of Leya has selected “Delicate” as this week’s challenge and illustrated the theme beautifully with images from Japan. (See her post HERE.) My recent travels took me to New Orleans, Louisiana – which is known for being outrageously over-the-top and far from delicate! So, I consider it a worthy endeavor to look for the intricate, ethereal side of such a place. “Exquisite, fragile, subtle, elegant”…
This snowy egret in Louis Armstrong Park reminded me that not far from this loudly human city is a fragile and intricate ecosystem draped in the softness of hanging moss and humidity.
In the architecture of the old French Quarter, there are many historic buildings decorated with ornate iron work and hanging gardens. Inside one of the museums there hangs this Victorian hair wreath. Fine strands of human hair from beloved family members were braided and woven together to create this intriguing artifact.
More modern in material and design, but equally exquisite in workmanship, are the many sequined, beaded, and feathered costumes and parade props used in the Carnival celebrations that make New Orleans famous.
And finally, we come to dessert. New Orleans cuisine is known for being bold and spicy, but you can also find elegant attention to detail and subtle flavors in fine French restaurants in the historic district.
Thank you, Ann-Christine, for bringing such delicacies to mind!
“Hope is a dimension of the soul … an orientation of the spirit, an orientation of the heart. It transcends the world that is immediately experienced and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons. … It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.” ― Vaclav Havel
Mahalia Jackson statue in Louis Armstrong Park, New Orleans
In this time of systemic and environmental collapse, which some call “unprecedented”, HOPEFULness is a very hot topic. Thank you, Patti, for having the courage to put it out there as our challenge this week! (See her interpretation HERE.)
My illustrations of Hopefulness were all gleaned from my very first trip to New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA) last weekend. NOLA is a city with a unique history, a colorful layering of cultures and suffering and community awareness. I visited during the annual Jazz Festival with nine other members of my family. Humanity was evident everywhere! And the stories of relationships were palpable in the streets: indigenous, Creole, French, Spanish, African, and American people interacting in every way.
“It isn’t outcomes that matter. It’s our relationships that give meaning to our struggles. If we free ourselves from hope and fear, from having to succeed, we discover that it becomes easier to love.” ― Margaret J. Wheatley (author of Warriors for the Human Spirit)
JAMNOLA (Joy, Art, Music – New Orleans, LA) Wall of Intentions
Traveling with my sisters, and my adult children and their partners was a heart-filling intergenerational experience. We are all unique individuals, and we are all family. We value our own choices, and we value each other.
“We’ve learned that no matter how despairing the circumstance, it is our relationships that offer us solace, guidance, and joy. As long as we’re together, as long as we feel others supporting us, we can persevere.” ― Margaret J. Wheatley
I was struck by the stories of the Mardi Gras or Carnivale parade traditions in New Orleans. I suppose I had assumed they were about debauchery, hedonism, or self-aggrandizement. I now have learned that they are also about honoring the human spirit and community support. The African-American “krews” who make and parade in elaborate feather costumes in semblance of indigenous cultures are paying homage to the bravery of those tribal people who assisted slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad at the risk of their own lives. They raise their children in awareness of the price and practice of solidarity as they prepare annually for these parades as a family.
“…Only in the present moment, free from hope and fear, do we receive the gifts of clarity and resolve. Freed also from anger, aggression, and urgency, we are able to see the situation clearly, take it all in, and discover what to do.” ― Margaret J. Wheatley
So, I suppose I am interested in discovering what might lie beyond Hopefulness and fear. I am interested in building supportive relationships based on what is needed, on what is most important for the good of the whole community. May we all be able to support each other so that all may thrive.
Last weekend, for the first time since 2019, I escaped the confines of the Earth’s surface and got on a plane. I flew from Portland, OR to Albuquerque, NM – into a totally different biological environment.
My former partner, Steve, is a Park Ranger at Bandelier National Monument. He escaped his weekly routine at the Park to accompany me to the museum in Santa Fe, a fabulous dinner, and the opera (Debussy’s Pelléas and Mélisande).
The next day, he invited me to his workplace for a tour of the cliff dwellings, a hike in the wilderness, and an encounter with a juvenile black bear in its natural habitat. (That last item was mostly a surprise.)
It was delightful to have a trusted companion to hang out with for four days. And returning to my solo life became a pleasant change as well.
“Even the smallest changes in our daily routine can create incredible ripple effects that expand our vision of what is possible.” ― Charles F. Glassman
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” – Henry David Thoreau
For this week’s challenge, Tina of Travels and Trifles asks about our preferences for our Environment and reminds us of the story of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse.
I happen to love tent camping. The first photo in the gallery was taken two years ago on a backpacking trip to the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness in Oregon; I was a month shy of 60 years old. The last photo was taken, I believe, in Acadia National Park in Maine; I was three years old. I didn’t take those photos. All the others were taken on various car camping trips in the last ten years. The smell of wood smoke and the crisp feel of fresh air make me feel more alive than any other environment. To me, a baked potato raked from the coals and covered in butter and salt and pepper can taste as heavenly as a gourmet meal at a 5-star restaurant. (It helps to be ravenously hungry!) The feeling of self-reliance and freedom that settles around me as I’m making camp in a spot I’ve chosen for its magnificent view is priceless. It makes me feel like I belong on this Earth, just as I am.
Others can have their cities of man-made majesty. I’m a happy camper in a cathedral of tall trees.
“Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.” ― Henri J.M. Nouwen
“If a foreigner were to spend a week or a month traveling your home country with you, where would you take them? What sights would you tell them to be sure to see? Where have you found some of your own favorite images? What is it you truly love about where you live, or places you’ve seen in your home country?” ―Tina of Travels and Trifles sets our Challenge this week.
If I were showing a foreign visitor what I like about my home country, I think I’d ask what my visitor was interested in exploring and hope that we could agree on some beautiful outdoor places (like National Parks) that would make good road trip destinations, as well as some nearby walking trails, restaurants, museums, and music concerts. I think that would be a relaxed approach, without any pressure to see the most iconic of places. I’m not a fan of crowds, you see. Hopefully, my visitor would forgive me for not including New York City…unless a really good Broadway musical enticed me.
“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 1:1-9
From 93 million miles away, the Sun’s light and heat affects each day of our lives. It comes to us as an ancient ray, a Source for all of life on this planet. I think of the ancient ways of life under the Sun, and I feel that I was closest to those ways last month on my backpacking trip to the Olympic National Park wilderness coastline. The trailhead is at the place where the Hoh River meets the Pacific Ocean. South of the river is Hoh tribal land.
“The Hoh River Indians are considered a band of the Quileutes but are recognized as a separate tribe. The Hoh Indian Reservation was established by an Executive Order in 1893. The Hoh Reservation consists of 443 acres located 28 miles south of Forks, and 80 miles north of Aberdeen. The Hoh Reservation has approximately one mile of beach front running east from the mouth of the Hoh River, and south to Ruby Beach.” – Hoh Tribe website: hohtribe-nsn.org
All over the beach lie the sun-bleached bones of the Ancients – cedar and fir trees, washed up by the tides in a jumble of giant driftwood. Among these bones you might also find the bones of less ancient giants: whales.
From our beach camp, we watched the Sun slide further and further down into the waves.
My small story of the next day includes the little detail that I slipped in the mud, fell with the weight of my whole body plus my pack on my outstretched left hand, and broke my wrist.
Being that we were in wilderness and had just come over the most difficult terrain, the quickest way to get to a hospital was simply to continue to trek the next two days up the coast. The tidal tipping points prohibited doing it at any faster pace. With tremendous assistance from my five hiking partners, we continued our journey and saw the Sun go down and come up on this beautiful coast two more times.
Even though there may be nothing new under the Sun, the unexpected can still happen. When my mind is reeling and my footing is uncertain, it’s good to feel the return of sunlight, the assurance of the day’s arc. It gives me the motivation to just keep going and see what will be. And I say, “It’s all right.”
Thanks to Amy for hosting this week’s Challenge. Do visit HER POST to see the Sun in many facets of its glory!
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