“It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here.” – Edward Abbey
Always the Same But Always Different
I often sit on this bench to watch birds. The area is a favorite hangout of western kingbirds and Bullock’s orioles. — Photo by Pat Bean
Before I became a full-time wondering wanderer, I enjoyed the familiarity of my frequent hikes on the benches of Utah’s Mount Ogden, whose shadow stretched down to touch my pleasant home.
From day-to-day, season-to-season, year-to-year, I got to watch the same landscape in its different moods and growth. It was an awesome experience.
While I truthfully tell everyone the only thing I miss since paring all my belongings down to fit into a 22-foot long RV is my bathtub – showers have just never been my bathing choice – I’m beginning to think I also miss the continuity of watching one particularly landscape change on a daily basis.
My volunteer position as a campground host here at Lake Walcott State Park for the last three summers is what started me thinking about this. I walk all around this park daily, several times in fact since my canine traveling companion, Pepper, needs an outlet for her energy. And I never tire of seeing the same landscape over and over.
Today the lake is mirror smooth, and so provides a canvas for the landscape to paint.
Part of that is because it’s ever-changing. The slant of the sun, the shadow of a cloud, the arrival of the nighthawks, a new flower opening its petals, the mirror smoothness or crashing waves of the lake against the shore, all this and much, much more add variety and delight to my walks.
Edward Abbey got it right. It’s as important to enjoy the land as it is to protect it. The first, I suspect, will make us fight all the harder to accomplish the latter.
Bean’s Pat: Life in the Bogs http://bogsofohio.wordpress.com I chose this blog as my pick of the day because its author/photographer frequently posts pictures of the same pond in its many moods. I never tire of seeing her pond day after day.
Pat Bean's blog 
What a beautiful spot under that tree. I see why it was a favorite of yours.
Thanks Maryann. There are dozens of other such special spots here in the park. I’m truly lucky to be able to spend my summers here.
Beautiful images and thoughts. Thank you for the Bean’s Pat. 🙂
As much as I love traveling, I’ve come to truly appreciate being in one spot, walking the same paths day after day because I’ve come to realize they are not the same paths at all. Everything changes, moment by moment, and walking through the meadows or around the pond are a form of traveling to new places because I never know what I’ll find.
And I get to enjoy your one spot, the meadows and the pond, through your blog. Which is good because I have itchy feet and by the end of the summer they’re ready to get back on the road.
Folks used to say there’s no such thing as global warming, but I don’t think anyone can argue that now.
That lake picture is stunning!
Thanks Helen. It’s even hot here at the lake today.
It is only when we visit and enjoy the land and landscape that we will find the need to protect is when it is threatened by the modern need for concrete.
Jim
A beautiful reminder Pat, that the same landscape never really is the same. Much as I love travel, I’ve received many gifts from the routine bike rides, hikes, and walks of daily life. Even if I don’t leave home, my garden is ever-changing. This past couple of weeks tiny strawberries and peppers have started to emerge. And in autumn, I can stay right on my living room couch and watch the leaves change on the silver maple outside the window.
Your garden sounds wonderful. Thanks for commenting.
What time of day was it when you photographed the tree and bench? The lighting is beautiful.
It was late afternoon Darla.