The View

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There are different aesthetics to the three hills we explored around our house when we were little. On bald Hill it was always kind of chilly, looking back at the way we came; at the tiny house and trees and the road where we could see someone driving up from miles away. On the Red Hill it was fun, yet a little stagnant. We weren’t as far away from the house, but we could still quite a way around and almost every aspect of the house and yard. On the Little Pasture Hill, it always felt warm and bright. We could see the back of the house and the mountains stretch out beyond it like the bulk of a looming beast.

Of course, the color of the dirt on each of these hills had much to do with the feel. Bald Hill had a dirty white soil at the top, Red Hill obviously had red dirt and the Little Pasture Hill had a mix between the two along with a rich brown color mixed in.

But I think the way the hills made us turn back to look the way we came helped with the feel as well. On Bald Hill it always felt like I was looking back, back on my past, my memories. It was always a little sad, though it was a huge accomplishment, having made it to the top of the hill. The Red Hill had a comfy, homey feel and maybe that was because it was closest to the house, but when I looked back, I looked back on what was happening right then. I was in the present, watching my life play out right in front of me. On the Little Pasture Hill, I always felt hopeful. Like the mountains beyond the house were full of potential, full of life and adventure. I could do anything, be anyone and only the future could tell what was to happen.

All three of these hills always made me smile though, I can’t wait to climb them again.

Raisin Cookies

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There is no fair comparison between chocolate chip cookie and raisin cookies. One brings to mind every grand desire of your heart. You cannot beat the pleasure of a good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie. On the other hand, raisin cookies bring a sort of homey feel to my soul. I bite into one and I’m taken to a country kitchen, looking out over green fields that are touched with the golden light of the setting sun. The warm smell of cinnamon fills the room and only wholesome feelings of love and kindness are allowed into the heart. It’s safe and it’s happy and there are no worries or cares to bother you there.

It’s weird. It’s like chocolate chip cookies fill you with happiness, but raisin cookies fill you with peace.

 

 

Autumn

My goodness I have been slacking! I guess it all comes from trying to juggle all sorts of other things at once. Word of advice, tackle all your tasks one at a time. I’m 21 and I’m still learning how to do that. But enough about that; what I want to talk about is my favorite season of the year. Autumn.

Autumn is the best season there is because the hot summer rush to have vacations and fun is slowing down, the days are getting colder and everyone is ready to hunker down and ride out the rest of the year. The cold is something that I enjoy immensely. I love how brisk and sweet it is after the muggy hotness of summer. But it isn’t too cold either; it doesn’t have the harsh biting cold  of winter that practically attacks your face when it’s windy. Another thing is the changing leaves. The red, orange, and yellow leaves have always had a romance about them and a beauty that makes my heart leap. It is the time of the last harvest, when in the old days, they would celebrate with a festival where they would eat and dance before the winter came and they hardly saw one another until spring. I love watching the animals prepare for winter up in the mountains. They run about in a last ditch effort to get everything ready before they must hibernate and they can live in a nice warm hole or nest. The winter birds appear, hailing us, wishing us a good day and asking us if we are ready for the cold months. Perhaps it is because I love to get cozy on the couch with a mug of coco in my hand, in the living room next to the fire that I love autumn so much. It is a time of settling down. Spring, the season of new life has passed her baton on to summer, the season of maturity, now passes it to autumn, the season in which the earth has decided that it is done working, and now settles down for a long period of time; until spring awakens it from it’s sleep.

First Day of School

I don’t know about anyone else, but I always loved the first day of school. I loved gathering all my new books and pencils, making a list of goals to have accomplished by the end of the year, and anticipating looking back and seeing how far I have come. Don’t you just love the thrill of a brand new start, moving forward to better yourself in mind and body? The anticipation of being the best student possible and by the end of the year being miles ahead of your past self. Being excited to work towards something that matters. That is what is beautiful about the first day of school; you get to be excited about life before you have to hunker down and remember how hard it is. If only we could be as excited about school throughout the rest of the school year as well as on the first day.

Views on the Stars

When you were young, you always looked up at the stars with wonder and never really understood what stars were. I was shocked to learn they were balls of gas in space and was even inclined to disbelieve it. My idea of what stars were was influenced by the song “Twinkle, twinkle little star.” I thought they were diamonds in the sky, great, shining rocks spread out over blue velvet. I believe children have a much more romantic view on stars than we adults do now. In the Anne of Green Gables series, she talks to a little boy – I can’t remember which – and tells her he thinks that someone cut holes out of the night sky and let them fall to the earth, and those pieces are violets, while the stars are the holes in the night sky letting in the light from beyond it. I know as adults we need to know the truth about these things, but because we do we are disenchanted with the world, and that is the way of life. But I think just to go back every once and a while to our days of sweet ignorant bliss, to remember what we thought the world was like and how we thought we would discover it; would make the world a bit brighter to look upon and make the daily drudge a bit more bearable.

Spring

Ah spring! The season of new life and new hope! Everything seems a bit brighter in the spring whether it be the landscape or the attitude. I love watching things come back to life in the spring. In the mountains when we rake back the dead leaves and plants we reveal the new plants beginning to rise. The aspen trees start to take on a greenish hew after they lay their white seeds upon the ground like a warm fuzzy snow. The blue birds come back to nest in the trees and the chipmunks start scavenging the ground for the seeds the chickadees left behind. Flowers bloom, the sky turns blue, and it is beautiful. The sheep begin to lamb at this time, when we would go out to milk the cow every morning and evening we would check on the sheep to see if they had any lambs. For a couple weeks we would find some new lambs cuddled up next to each other or trying to walk almost every day. Watching the new life that spreads over the land, the new plants, and the new babies. I just don’t know how it all could come about without God and I don’t think anyone could ever convince me that it can.

Children’s Books

Do you ever go back and read those books you read as a child? Dr. Seuss, the Bernstein Bears, Clifford and the Little Golden Books. Do you remember curling up on your bed or on the couch to read them or just to look at the pictures? I love the feeling you get when you go back to read them. The same feelings wash over me as I pick them up off the shelf and sit back to read them and notice the same things I noticed when I was little. The texture of the pages, the way the illustrations were drawn. The thing about those books is that they never got old. We still love them even though we are old and mature. I think that is because those books were meant for the whole family to enjoy; from the three year old to the forty year old; we all enjoyed them together.

The Seasons

I have always loved contemplating the seasons. They all seemed to have personalities and a certain magic about them. Spring would be a bright person, full of life and promise. It is innocent and hopeful. The magic it has is the magic of rebirth and the fresh start. Summer has a more down to earth personality. It likes to get things done and knows a bit more about the earth than spring does. The magic it possesses is the magic of life and laughter. Autumn has a more mystical personality. It is more laid back and thoughtful than the others. The magic it possesses is the magic of contentment and sleepy happiness. Winter has a quiet personality, sometimes it bursts out in anger, but it mostly just enjoys being there. The magic it possesses is magic of stark beauty and keen life. Another way of looking at the seasons that I’m sure everyone is familiar with is the way it mirrors the human life. Spring is the birth of a child, Summer is when it grows to adulthood, Autumn is when it grows old, and Winter is when it dies. And next year it starts all over again. This is what tells me that God is real.

Rain Part One

This morning it was pouring rain. I went on my usual walk and got soaked to the point where there were little puddles in my shoes; it was miserable conditions to go walking in. But I love the rain. I love letting it sink into my hair and leave droplets on my face. Do you ever notice how we all like to dance in the rain? I think it’s the romantic and mystical charm that draws us to doing it, it’s almost like an acceptance of nature and human beings joined together for a brief moment in time where they harmonize in perfection.

Clear Skies

So I live in the city now; a place where the clouds get stuck in the valley and can only be moved by a good strong wind. And when the clouds are gone, the smog makes itself manifest. A couple of days ago me, my brother and my sister went home to Wyoming. It was just for the weekend and the first couple of days it snowed up in the mountains. But the last day was so clear! it was kind of amazing because I hadn’t seen a clear sky like that since December when we were home for Christmas. We left that night and as we walked out we could see all the stars up above. They looked like diamonds set in a velvet sky. Doesn’t it just feel so refreshing when you see a clear sky? It’s almost like being doused in ice cold water and coming up with a new look on life. I confess it is times like those that I find it impossible that people think God does not exist. To me, when looking at the very things he created, it only makes it more manifest.