Tag: Mountains
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Smoky Mountain Misty Morn’
Strong thunderstorms last evening orchestrated one of my favorite Creation symphonies . . . the soothing staccato of raindrops dancing on a metal roof. Local forecasts predicted clearing by late morning, nixing a spectacular sunrise photo opt. However, living in the Great Smoky Mountains for the past eight years has taught me some of her…
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Then and Now
On of my favorite Microsoft tools is the On This Day feature. It pops-up pictures saved over the past two decades on my One Drive that were taken on this day. It significantly assists this ole ragamuffin in remembering fond memories from days-of yore. I’ve affectionately dubbed it my AnDeHeDe . . . Anti-Dementia-Help-Device😊 Today…
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Nature vs. Civilization
On each flight into and out of SEATAC I’m inspired by a mountain. Towering 14,410 ft., Mt. Rainier pierces through the clouds in silent sentinel watch in over the cacophony of Seattle’s nearly 3 ½ million souls 59 miles to the southeast . . . a bittersweet contrast. On this flight it was as though…
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Hiking and Potato Chips
Fallen aspen leaves kinda’ resemble potato chips, and fall hiking in the Last Frontier is sorta’ like eating potato chips . . . it’s hard to stop at just one more!😊 Here’s a few ‘potato chip’ pics from today’s wilderness wander, sadly my last before snow-birding south in a couple of days . . .…
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Final Greatland Wander
Looks like we’ll be on a jet headed south for the winter next week. Rather than spend the day going through another box of Kleenex today, I hiked up Castle Mountain to dry my tears 😊. I built a rock cairn on top with a Good Book pocket edition for other solitude seekers. Here’s a few…
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Nature’s Beauty Pageant
Seasons transitions are Nature’s Beauty Pageants. Forest floors carpeted in gold . . . mountains engraved with a 3,000 ft. white line . . . the Last Frontier’s spectacular Fall surrendering to Winter transition. Here’s a few displays that set my soul singing How Great Thou Art this afternoon . . . gazing in awesome…
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Creation’s Whispers
Of all the places I’ve been blessed to meander throughout this untamed, rugged, awesome Last Frontier corner of creation, Hatcher Pass remains among my most special. “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” . . . in today’s chaotic word, life’s ‘forest’ beauty is woefully shrouded by it’s tumultuous ‘trees’ of power, greed, bigotry,…
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Retired Routine
Time . . . free and unscheduled from family and career demands . . . is one of retirement’s supreme joys. However, it still requires a modicum of Demanding Responsible Routine (DRR). My ‘challenging’ morning DRR involves a 5-step procedure I’ve thankfully, somehow, managed to quickly master: 1. Awake to daybreak’s soothing ‘alarms’ of birdsong and…
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Drizzly Day Wander
Drizzly days disperse sunny day shadows casting the landscape with a muted, impressionist, Monet haze. Such was mine on a wilderness wander up Castle Mountain today. Other than an unexpected spill crossing a swamp . . . resulting in an ‘invigorating’ mud bath . . . it was an tranquil, color splashed antithesis to…