The Mountain Air Gently Weeps
~ Edge of Awareness ~

Mt. Shuksan Splendor

Ken James McLeod

Before me there is only alpine life: marmots whistling their tales of alarm, ptarmigan with clicks twitting about, and mountain goats perched atop the highest granite rocks. Mt. Shuksan stands proud and strong, belittling mankind with its sheer presence.

And the mountain air gently weeps with dew...

Yonder is the valley cut with glacier river running floss-green with snow melt, through miles of old growth forests. Of which Douglas fir, western red cedar, and Sitka spruce tower ever skyward from where the rich moss seeps.

And the mountain air gently weeps with dew...

Challenged by an inner desire to climb higher upon the crags for blissful view, I am reminded that not all is joyful and gladdens the eye around the world where there is strife: hunger, famine, and war. At my feet is the good earth, though soil is filled with dried tears of a thousand years.

And the mountain air gently weeps with dew...

Echoes of Snyder and Kerouac (mountain poets) are in the wind. In the pulse of blood and dripping sweat, whispers of Beckey, Cooper, Swayne, Thompson, now Nelson (noted mountain climbers) are felt. The view much the same though glaciers have receded. Time here however, seems to stand still. And across the wide expanse of sky are immense forested ridges - jagged ones with snow atop peaks, each with adopted human names given them. And through my camera lens are visions stirred by photographic emotions handed down by Adams, Scaylea, Wolff, Mann, O'Hara, and Rowell. At long last I attain the top of a pinnacle where a 360 degree "splendid" view is had. I contemplate the world.

And the mountain air gently weeps with dew, but the good earth remains.....

KJM
(McPilchuck)
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