Just the other day, Memorial Day in fact, was a full day...friends, travel and fun. The morning started off with a visit in Menlo Park - a surprise meet-up with a group of folks reading our book, The Promise Doctrine.
7 hours (and a bit of traffic) later, we rolled into Ojai...and, that is where the fun continued! Once I got home, I took out my new Mountain Bike (thanks to Bob Coble at Bicycles of Ojai for steering me in the right direction) and turned uphill from my house.
Just up Foothill Road (have you been lately?) is a fire road that turns into a smaller trail, which culminates in some technical single-track that eventually ends up at Gridley Road. Whether you're on foot, on bike or on horseback, the views are spectacular, the hills are HUGE, and the space is quiet.
So, was I amused?
Not in the same sense of the word as when I was a kid and my parents brought me to Disneyland for the 4th of July holiday...10 years in a row!
But, I was in awe (just like I was the first time I saw Captain EO, Star Tours, Br'er Rabbit come to life at Splash Mountain) of the absolute majesty of those hills up behind our home.
Sometime this week, drive along the valley floor, and look toward the north. See if you can pick out one of the peaks - Chief's Peak, or the Topa Topas for example - and wonder. Wonder what's there, who's there, what it's like up there. Then, some day, maybe, you'll get a book, read a magazine article, or find a buddy and get up there for a visit yourself!
Loved this!! My amusement park is Ring Mt. I have spent hundreds of hours savouring the views, hearing the sounds that nature provides, filling my serenity pool with the quietude and calm that one finds when we slow down. My dog is in his glory there and continual teaches me about the important things in life one connects with when we are "in the moment."
Thank you for the reminder and the knowledge that someone else's "amusement park" is similar to mine~
Posted by: Alice Tanner | June 16, 2010 at 11:44 AM