Saturday, June 26, 2010

This Harsh and Splendid Land

This harsh and splendid land
With snow-covered rock mountains, cold-crystal streams,
Deep forests of cypress, juniper and ash
Is as much my body as what you see before you here.

(from The Warrior Song of King Gezar)

I read this tonight in "Three Cups of Tea" (trying hard to stay awake on the long overnight!). Then it reminded me of another quote I read recently, by a local artist/painter named Chili Thom. He said:

"I love living here. It's got so much diverse beauty but is also a very rugged and challenging place. From the weather-hammered shorelines of the West Coast all the way through to the jagged upheaval of the Rockies, you can learn that life is not always easy but it always goes on. You see a tiny tree clinging out of a crack on the cliffs of the Squamish Chief and it shows that life is a struggle but with perseverance you can get through anything. In nature, there are a lot of challenges you have to power through. You suffer out a storm, or a long slog up to a summit, but you are always rewarded with something beautiful: a sunrise, or a 360-degree viewpoint, or an Inukshuk on the top of a mountain."

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