Very nice essay and beautiful pictures! I love the quote - so true - but am sorry to read of your “melancholy.” Perhaps “sadness” or “anguish” are better words. Certainly, hiking alone is a great way to work your way through it. No river but no mountain top, as your pictures show, is ever the same. I look forward to your Day Two.
My mother’s favorite season was Autumn and for good reason, they were her reasons which connected her to early loss, too early even for words. She always found a great healing power in her attraction to this season. A summary of light begins autumn and winter ends it definitively when we seek shelter and the warmth of being inside. Brilliant deep hues and their countering shadows are a comfort much wiser, kinder and older than grief which emerges in the aurora of morning. Be patient, gentle with yourself. Your photographs Eric are so rich with nature’s glory in wide scapes we would not otherwise see, so thank you so much.
This piece REALLY resonates with me. I don't know what (or who) you're grieving but I can totally relate to the mixed and heavy feelings of being in particular nature spaces. I was on the most beautiful mountain retreat of my life the day I got the call that my son had passed. Now, as melancholy as the mountains make me, they also save me. Nature is the only place that makes it easier to breathe when your soul is collapsing.
Shining Rock Southern Loop, Day 1
Very nice essay and beautiful pictures! I love the quote - so true - but am sorry to read of your “melancholy.” Perhaps “sadness” or “anguish” are better words. Certainly, hiking alone is a great way to work your way through it. No river but no mountain top, as your pictures show, is ever the same. I look forward to your Day Two.
My mother’s favorite season was Autumn and for good reason, they were her reasons which connected her to early loss, too early even for words. She always found a great healing power in her attraction to this season. A summary of light begins autumn and winter ends it definitively when we seek shelter and the warmth of being inside. Brilliant deep hues and their countering shadows are a comfort much wiser, kinder and older than grief which emerges in the aurora of morning. Be patient, gentle with yourself. Your photographs Eric are so rich with nature’s glory in wide scapes we would not otherwise see, so thank you so much.
Erik, beautiful story and images. There is nothing like being out in nature with time to think. I am looking forward to the next chapter.
Maaaan, that middle sunset (2023) is gorgeous!
This piece REALLY resonates with me. I don't know what (or who) you're grieving but I can totally relate to the mixed and heavy feelings of being in particular nature spaces. I was on the most beautiful mountain retreat of my life the day I got the call that my son had passed. Now, as melancholy as the mountains make me, they also save me. Nature is the only place that makes it easier to breathe when your soul is collapsing.