Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Ocean or Mountains?

Which one do you prefer?  Which one rejuvenates you - replenishes your soul?

I ask because the answer is often not what I presumed.



I live on the coast.  I love it.  I can sit in the sand or in my car and watch the waves break for hours while I ponder God's awesome power, the immensity of the universe and my place in it.  The ocean fills me with wonder.  I revel in it's ever-changing beauty.  No two waves are alike.  No two sunsets the same color.  Foam patterns on the beach are different with each receding wave.  I meditate on infinite possibility. 

But it's the mountains that heal me. There's just something about being surrounded by trees that fills me with a serenity I cannot tap into elsewhere.




The sound of a creek waters flowing over rocks and swirling around a sandbar is soothing music to my ears.




I spent the day in the mountains yesterday.  I just drove by myself for five hours.  The higher the altitude became the lighter I felt.




I stopped by Burney Falls.  It was cold and damp from the mist and the late afternoon shadows.  But the smell was beyond Heavenly.  Pine.  Moss.  Damp earth.  Deep cleansing breaths.




Little traffic.  Fading sunlight.  Trees straight and tall on all sides.  Majesty above them.



Peace.  Completeness.  Inspiration.  Quiet.  Solitude.  Wellness.  Integrity.

All these words and more define the mountains for me.

I came home refreshed and ready for another round of parenting, working, struggling to survive. 

Which gives you that renewal?  Ocean or Mountains?




4 comments:

Karen said...

Your photos as usual tell a beautiful story. I hadn't thought about it before - I drive an hour each way to work around our bay and always thought that it was the changes in water that recharged me. But I cannot live without trees around me and although we don't have mountain ranges here the size of your, when I go up into the Dandenongs, it is then I feel at peace.

Kathy U said...

All my life I have been able to look out my window and see Mt Rainier. The windows I have looked through have changed through out the years but the beauty and strength that the mountain inspires in me has not. When I am looking for renewal, a fresh frame of mind, I head for the beach. Most of the time that means a quick jaunt down the hill to the shores of Puget Sound or I wait for the weekend and our routine stay at our cabin on Hood Canal. If I am in need of some major peace and clarity, I drive the extra 75 miles to the ocean.

Linda Bob Grifins Korbetis Hall said...

Extraordinary views in your living area, how lucky you are to be in Heaven! :)

thank you for asking apples and oranges questions, I like both!

http://www.jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com
welcome!

Gretchen said...

I'm way late, but beautiful & inspirational post! I've been wanting to make a solo trip like this for a while.