America the Beautiful

 As there's not much to love about an early morning drive to the airport, an emotional  farewell, a delayed first flight  (Reno to SF), a run for the gate (just made it), and an uncomfortable economy class (read "steerage") seat, today I will have to fall in love with a reflection of this road trip.

Eleven days on the road with my son, a gazillion miles traveled, and not a single argument on the way.  That, in and of itself, is something to be in love with.  But I'm going to look through a different lens -- at the incredible and amazing sights we saw along the way.  My camera can testify to the beauty of California (and Nevada), but bear with me while I tell you in words.

Susanville, where we began, lies between the desert and the mountains.  The beauty of a diverse landscape is intense.  The duality of opposites -- to look in one direction and see a forested mountain and look in the other direction and see a flat, sagebrush-covered expanse -- simply forces one to consider the differences that exist all around us.

Mountains that soar 7,000 or 8,000 feet above us command us to consider our place on this planet.  "Purple mountain majesties," indeed.  Who am I in this world but a speck of dust?

And the sea . . . the rage and calm of the ocean, the ebb and flow of memory and anticipation, the security of believing that the water will always be there.  I am sorry for those who have never or will never know that power, that beauty, that sacred blessing.

The inland valleys that nourish us have a beauty all their own.  The vineyards, the farms, the miles and miles of produce -- apricots, plums, avocados, grapes, olives, nuts . . .  I cannot help but think of the migrant workers of Steinbeck's novels.  Mack and the boys, George and Lennie, the Joads.  There's a simple beauty in working the land and a greater beauty in the harvest.  The gardener in me kneels before the farmers who create this beauty.

And then there is Yosemite.  The grandeur of our National Parks is breath-taking.  I marvel at the pioneers and settlers and conservationists who discovered these jewels of the landscape.  I tip my hat to the country's leaders who made it a priority to make these treasures accessible to everyone.  At Muir Woods National Monument, I obtained an America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, good for the rest of my life.  It cost me $10.00.  How's that for accessible?

Mountains, forests, deserts, valleys, coastlines, canyons -- America has it all.  Now if we could only work on the "brotherhood" part.

(You must have noticed that there were no pictures included in this post.  Get out there and take some for yourself.  You heard me.  Start planning it now.)