(We had some more time to spend at home together before the holiday craziness begins! McKenzie comes to visit today and then Bryan's family comes later in the week! So much happiness, I love it.)
There was the "storm of the century" in the Bay Area and everyone was preparing for the worst. A lot of places up by San Francisco got hit pretty hard. We had pretty intense rain down where we are, but nothing too bad. But it was kind of fun to check and make sure all of our emergency supplies were stocked. I love being prepared, it just feels good.
Then, this weekend, Bry and I took Anne on a hike up in the mountains. I should have taken my better camera, because these iPhone pics just do not do the beauty justice. I love it here. Seriously, there is a reason people were awestruck with the beauty of the wilderness of this place.
(Nerd/side note: We started watching the documentary series on Netflix about the creation of the National Parks and it's been super interesting, we are learning so much. If you love nature and documentaries, you should check it out.)
I've learned so much about John Muir (who was actually kind of a nut, but he did so much to preserve some of the most beautiful parts of our country-- Muir Woods' namesake...) and I have loved some of the things he said about being in nature. For him, nature was spirituality. He came to know God by appreciating and understanding God's creations. I, for one, love being in nature-- there is something so cleansing and invigorating about spending time in nature. Anyway...
"Fresh beauty opens one's eyes wherever it is really seen, but the very abundance and completeness of the common beauty that besets our steps prevents its being absorbed and appreciated. It is a good thing, therefore, to make short excursions now and then to the bottom of the sea among dulse and coral, or up among the clouds on mountain-tops, or in balloons, or even to creep like worms into dark holes and caverns underground, not only to learn something of what is going on in those out-of-the-way places, but to see better what the sun sees on our return to common everyday beauty."
-- John Muir
"The mountains are fountains of men as well as of rivers, of glaciers, of fertile soil. The great poets, philosophers, prophets, able men whose thoughts and deeds have moved the world, have come down from the mountains - mountain dwellers who have grown strong there with the forest trees in Nature's workshops. "-- John Muir
I love my little family so much.
"All the wild world is beautiful, and it matters but little where we go, to highlands or lowlands, woods or plains, on the sea or land or down among the crystals of waves or high in a balloon in the sky; through all the climates, hot or cold, storms and calms, everywhere and always we are in God's eternal beauty and love. So universally true is this, the spot where we chance to be always seems the best." -- John Muir
I think that last quote is my favorite. I love living in this beautiful place.
