HOME | DD

Description
I stare at the massive
mound of earth, granite, ice and snow
before me and wonder what right I have
to disturb the silent beauty that has
made this place so special to me.
All my life I have wanted to climb
this miracle of nature and survey the
surrounding valleys and streams
from it's icy peaks.

I give the straps on my backpack
one last tug as I emerge
from the swaying grove of pine trees.
I turn to view all that I have
left behind and find myself smiling
as I see the snow-covered sentinels
cheering me on with upraised arms.
Each a work of art in itself in their
translucent armor that reveals every color
of the rainbow with every subtle twitch.

The first few hours are easy.
I knew there was no turning back
the moment my boot left the first footprint
on the mountain's slope.
It would seem blasphemous to scar
this masterpiece and not accomplish my goal.
The higher I go the more I must fight
to control my feeling of excitement and accomplishment.
I am actually doing it! My first solo climb!

As I ascend from the world below I
begin to notice more and more details
that had remained hidden to me from afar.
Just like the brushstrokes on a beautiful
oil canvas that isn't apparent until
you take a closer look, I see how all the
ice-laden pieces to this beautiful puzzle
harmonize in a silent symphony of beauty and wonder.

The snow packed crevices of the massive boulders
transforms before my eyes into a home for all forms
of creatures. Each living in perfect harmony in the
hollow of the stone giant's hand.
Never moving, yet always changing.
I see squirrels scatter at my intrusion into
their private world and the sky blackens with birds
taking flight as a thunderclap announces my arrival
(True it was only a twig under my boot, but it
had just as well be thunder int his fortress of solitude).

After hours of climbing and observing
I find that I am within reach of my goal.
As I give one last effort and pull myself over the peak
and look around me I strangely feel no sense of accomplishment
No purpose.
No cheering crowds.
No light from heaven.
Only a hollow, eerie feeling that I had intruded into this
world and I didn't belong.
I looked back down the mountains and remembered back
a lifetime ago at all the feelings I had
while taming this beast, and I realize something.
I turn to head back the way I came as the thought
hits me. It's wasn't the destination that I had wanted
all along. It was the journey.
And I smile as I head back home......

Description
I stare at the massive
mound of earth, granite, ice and snow
before me and wonder what right I have
to disturb the silent beauty that has
made this place so special to me.
All my life I have wanted to climb
this miracle of nature and survey the
surrounding valleys and streams
from it's icy peaks.

I give the straps on my backpack
one last tug as I emerge
from the swaying grove of pine trees.
I turn to view all that I have
left behind and find myself smiling
as I see the snow-covered sentinels
cheering me on with upraised arms.
Each a work of art in itself in their
translucent armor that reveals every color
of the rainbow with every subtle twitch.

The first few hours are easy.
I knew there was no turning back
the moment my boot left the first footprint
on the mountain's slope.
It would seem blasphemous to scar
this masterpiece and not accomplish my goal.
The higher I go the more I must fight
to control my feeling of excitement and accomplishment.
I am actually doing it! My first solo climb!

As I ascend from the world below I
begin to notice more and more details
that had remained hidden to me from afar.
Just like the brushstrokes on a beautiful
oil canvas that isn't apparent until
you take a closer look, I see how all the
ice-laden pieces to this beautiful puzzle
harmonize in a silent symphony of beauty and wonder.

The snow packed crevices of the massive boulders
transforms before my eyes into a home for all forms
of creatures. Each living in perfect harmony in the
hollow of the stone giant's hand.
Never moving, yet always changing.
I see squirrels scatter at my intrusion into
their private world and the sky blackens with birds
taking flight as a thunderclap announces my arrival
(True it was only a twig under my boot, but it
had just as well be thunder int his fortress of solitude).

After hours of climbing and observing
I find that I am within reach of my goal.
As I give one last effort and pull myself over the peak
and look around me I strangely feel no sense of accomplishment
No purpose.
No cheering crowds.
No light from heaven.
Only a hollow, eerie feeling that I had intruded into this
world and I didn't belong.
I looked back down the mountains and remembered back
a lifetime ago at all the feelings I had
while taming this beast, and I realize something.
I turn to head back the way I came as the thought
hits me. It's wasn't the destination that I had wanted
all along. It was the journey.
And I smile as I head back home......