On a Beautiful Place

It's Memory Lane Monday time again. This photo is from high school. My friend Sarah and I went camping with my family and we are hanging out in our bikinis on a high-above-a-stream log. It was a little scary, but very fun. I do miss Mt. Rainier so.


Now I think I have ruffled a few feathers knocking east coast mountains. Of course, my friends are not the type to be actually offended, and they know that it is all in good fun. I can't fairly knock mountains that I have never actually been to and the mountains in North Carolina and Vermont and West Virginia are probably very nice to hike on. I think it all comes down to what you were raised on. I love seeing mountains that are just so there. On a clear day you can see Mt. Rainier from really far away and it is so beautiful. And you can look around and see Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams and also lots of hills. And the mountains are different from the hills because the tops of the hills are not white with snow or touching the clouds. Also, growing up I was less than 45 minutes away from being "in the mountains". Actually much less as a high school driver:) And we used to go camping nearly every weekend in the summers. So, mountain, to me means much more than the scientific definition. It means a silhouette against the sky. It means the ground being covered in pine needles. It means trees so thick you can't see more than a few yards in from the road. And I would love to visit and explore and learn about these other places, but it will never be the same to me. And I know that there are places in the world more beautiful and majestic than Mt. Rainier, but I know I will miss it no matter where I am.