I grew up for a brief seven years in the midst of the Austrian Alps. Outside our front door was an 18,000 foot peak that could make you cry if you saw it at sunrise. My family hiked as often as we could over the foothills, and climbed to the snowline to throw summer snowballs at each other. There's something about mountains that mystifies and enlightens the soul; it gets deep inside and never quite leaves. Personally, anytime I'm near mountains it's like coming home.
The recent movies of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit displayed incredible vistas of mountains in New Zealand that I honestly never knew existed. The brilliance of those images are hauntingly beautiful, and I'll never forget them. Ansel Adams made a fine living taking black and white pictures of landscapes and mountains. People want to see the beauty of nature in all its wonder.
But, there's nothing like being there in person. To see mountains with your own eyes is a special kind of marvel. And, when you do, you will long to see them again and again. Mountains, their peaks capped with snow and shining in the light, grace our world with majesty that calls out to be climbed, painted, written about, sung about, and brought to the ends of the Earth. It's like the old question, "Why did you climb that? Because it was there."
- M
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