Sandias
My apologies for the apparent formatting issues. I am using 
my Dad's computer which apparently doesn't like my format
for some weird reason.
I am in Albuquerque this week as Zachary is participating in Brian Urlacher's football camp. Many don't know that the great Chicago Bear's Star was once a University of New Mexico Lobo (UNM). I of course am a big fan of Brian as a tried and true Lobo at heart having attended UNM on scholarship before moving to Texas.
Well with family in tow we drove from Austin to Albuquerque yesterday. As I sat outside my parent's house last night I found my eyes being drawn to the Sandia Mountains and their pinkish red vibrant color as the sun set. The mountains were named the Sandias because in Spanish it means watermelon and that's exactly what they look like.
Having those mountains welcome me back with such a beautiful showing of color last night told me I was really home. I can't tell you how many times growing up those mountains became my constant friend, companion and confidant. They were always there watching me grow and become what I was destined to become. There are a lot of my hopes, dreams, tears buried up there in those yonder hills.
I believe the older I get the more important it is to take stock in the things that mean something to you. I guess until last night the power of the mountain and what it has really meant to me in my 36 years finally hit me. I felt an amazing realization of peace and understanding wash over me and I just know this is going to be a good trip home.
More from ABQ this week.
Ripple On!!!
Steve Harper
3 comments:
The Sandia Mountains really are beautiful and majestic. I am truly amazed by them every time I go back home.
Valerie
What an amazing sight they must be! I hope you have a wonderful week.
Yah, I know what you mean. You describe very well my experience of the Sierra Nevada Mountains just east of Fresno where I grew up. I still get that special kind of stirring in my Soul when I look to the East. I acquired a very deep affinity for them early as child when I would visit my aunt and uncle at Huntington Lake.
The view of them today is very different than even 20 years ago. Most of time pollution blocks the view of them. Even on clear days the view is very hazy. Nothing at all like the clear and awe inspiring view of the forties and fifties when I was growing up. It is a sad thing to lose.
And yet in this loss there is a “silver Lining”. For it the loss of this treasured view that drives my work today. I often refer to this story to illustrate the concrete and immediate need to be mindful of the kind of difference - Ripple - we really want to be making.
Seems to me that while the issue of greenhouse gases is extremely abstract and can be debated endlessly, the direct observation of the quality of the air we are breathing isn’t.
Thanks for the reminder. It’s just one more example of the kind of difference you make in people’s Lives.
Have a fun and rewarding day, Arlin.
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