I’ve been fortunate to see some cool places. America is a big space, and I’ve been to each side of the country and seen much of what’s in between. Living in Texas, there are coastlines and forests — hills, mountains, and even the second largest canyon in the United States. Big places with scenery that can change a person.
It can be easy to crave open places like that…to the point that I know people who are not happy unless they are going somewhere big to make their everyday lives not feel so small…
Hell, I’ve been that very person…
Reading on a Mountaintop
I read a great piece written by Jack Cheng about feeling like you have to do certain things in certain places. You must feel a certain way or do certain things, based on where you are at the moment. The gist of the piece for those who skip it is that we feel things like mountaintops must be devoted to making the place somehow matter more than other places in our minds. Cheng just wanted to read a book at the top of the Sandia range in New Mexico, but felt he was somehow wasting the moment by not rushing around to take it all in.
It’s an idea that fascinates me because there have been things I’ve seen that I truly believed would be a level of incredible I could only imagine that, instead, turned out to be a bust. Then, something as simple as driving to work on Monday, with the way the sun came through the clouds and lit up the hills on the back way I go in to avoid traffic…it’s the kind of scenery people pay to see.
And it’s minutes from my home!
My Home is a Mountain
When I think of some of my favorite moments in my entire life, sure — juggling at the rim of the Grand Canyon was cool. Canoeing rivers, hiking in the Pacific Northwest, and camping trips into nowhere are way up there. Road trips and other adventures will linger in my memory until my memories are no more. But the memories I really hold dear are evenings when I’ve cooked for friends, right here at home. Afternoons sitting on the couch and talking with my wife can be just as magical as the kinds of places people seek to satisfy that need for something more
.
There is so much more out there I want to see, but many times — maybe even most times — all I need is right here at home.
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