1970 Photo of Santa Lucia Mountains by Aroid I lived out west during my early years as an Army Brat. My recollections are of desert and mountains before moving east in 1965. This Kodachrome wakes long forgotten memories of what my father always claimed, "The west-er the better." Looking at this I almost believe him.
We moved to Ft Carson when I was 15 and would go camping in the mountains west of Colorado Springs. Hiking in the hills -- I'd look out at a spot miles away. Maybe a lone pine tree. I'd head for that tree, and when I got there, hours later, I'd look back from where I came and in that moment I was hugely moved.
I don't remember why or maybe I just didn't understand. When I first saw this sunset I realized I didn't have to understand. It was the moment that was everything.
The west is as much the landscape as NYC is the subway and taxis.
ReplyDeleteAfter having left the west and its mountains some years ago, I thought little of it, till I one day looked out the window of a high rise over a sweeping view. I had never seen the view before but the feeling was definately nostalgia.
The coastal hills in California do provide some great views but then I think most coastal hills anywhere overlooking water do. I'm going west in about three weeks time,so I may try and find a similar sweet spot to drink up the ambience.
ReplyDelete"The west-er the better."
ReplyDeleteexcept for the people.
Idaho is underrated.
Dallas...I agree...Idaho is underated....Hemingway knew a good thing.
ReplyDeleteWhen I look at the photo I wonder what they are hunting for...??
Elk.
ReplyDeleteDallas and Mainline are officially uninvited to the hunting lodge at my parents place just off the Lolo trail in Idaho.
ReplyDeleteDad got a wild turkey shooting from the hot-tub, a bear, an elk, and deer while on a stroll from the front porch, and they pull steelhead or rainbows out of the river every day.
The people out there prefer you to feel that way.
Bro-Re-read the comments. I said "Hemingway knew knew a good thing"...a compliment to Idaho. I have a picture of my wife and I standing at the Hemingway statue on a bluff over the river outside Ketchum. I have skied at Sun Valley and hunted outside Ketchum and fished outside Boise on a river whose name I forget cause it was 1989.
ReplyDeleteDallas was complimenting the state as well...by my read.
So...is over invite reinstated?
I lived not far from that spot for a summer 15 years ago. That golden glow is unforgettable.
ReplyDeleteNo I read it right. Re-read my post and realize the place in Idaho is my parents... They are people. That is their home.
ReplyDeleteIdaho is the only state I haven't been to. Rumor has it that it's full of political extremists of one sort and another. And a lot of Elk presumably.
ReplyDeleteThat golden light is an amazing thing. Beautiful in images but even more amazing when you're 'in it' and can see its hues on your skin. Nothing beats that light. Softer in the northern hemisphere and harsher in the southern.
ReplyDelete