...comin' home, to a place he'd never been before.
Or something like that. Being back on the road I am mindful of doing things better; hence all the preaching about being flexible and avoiding rigid habits when traveling.
There is a fair bit of adaptation necessary here in Ouray, although the deck was stacked in my favor by the generosity of my "clients", Mark and Bobbie Johnson, over at Box Canyon Blog.
When walking the sidewalks in downtown Ouray, it is fun to imagine what various people like best about a scenic mountain town. I almost feel sorry for the bourgeois matrons from a big city; they must be bored to tears with nature and scenery, after a few minutes.
When I watch them it is always with an impish smirk on my face. Think of the classic Disney movie, Homeward Bound (The Incredible Journey), in which a cat, Sassie (voiced over by Sally Fields), and two male dogs try to make a long distance journey over the mountains to get back to their people. At one point Sassie the cat says, "I'm so sick of nature I could puke. After this I intend to live indoors on a velvet cushion, filled with bird feathers."
Restaurants are the other big thing for mainstream tourists. No wonder vacations to Las Vegas or stay-cations at luxury hotels back home have become popular. A lot more people come to a town like Ouray than really should: very few tourists walk the marvelous trail system around town.
But let's ask what people look at most fondly when they do stay away from the shops and restaurants. The mountains is the obvious answer; but it's not that simple. It could be running streams, old mining culture, snow, slot-like canyons, waterfalls, or cliffs. I was surprised when a passerby in town wanted to know about a grassy ridge that sits at the top of the southern face of one mountain. I too have been obsessing over this. Maybe ridgeline fans are more numerous than I thought.
Actually you can just barely see the ridgeline at the top of the photo; it inclines toward the right. (As always, clicking the photo enlarges it.) But I can't keep my eyes off of it. I got closer to it on today's hike:
Recall Oscar Wilde's words in An Ideal Husband: 'To look at a thing is quite different from seeing a thing. One does not see anything until one sees its beauty.' There is no shortage of land-forms to practice that wise saying on, here in Ouray; but in the case of ridgelines, this wise saying is upside-down. Looking at a ridgeline, you must admit it is subtle and unspectacular. It's beauty doesn't come from looking at it, but rather, in appreciating how the rest of the world looks when seen from a ridgeline; better yet, imagine the experience of being on the ridgeline, moving along it, rather than looking at anything.
Or something like that. Being back on the road I am mindful of doing things better; hence all the preaching about being flexible and avoiding rigid habits when traveling.
There is a fair bit of adaptation necessary here in Ouray, although the deck was stacked in my favor by the generosity of my "clients", Mark and Bobbie Johnson, over at Box Canyon Blog.
When walking the sidewalks in downtown Ouray, it is fun to imagine what various people like best about a scenic mountain town. I almost feel sorry for the bourgeois matrons from a big city; they must be bored to tears with nature and scenery, after a few minutes.
When I watch them it is always with an impish smirk on my face. Think of the classic Disney movie, Homeward Bound (The Incredible Journey), in which a cat, Sassie (voiced over by Sally Fields), and two male dogs try to make a long distance journey over the mountains to get back to their people. At one point Sassie the cat says, "I'm so sick of nature I could puke. After this I intend to live indoors on a velvet cushion, filled with bird feathers."
Restaurants are the other big thing for mainstream tourists. No wonder vacations to Las Vegas or stay-cations at luxury hotels back home have become popular. A lot more people come to a town like Ouray than really should: very few tourists walk the marvelous trail system around town.
But let's ask what people look at most fondly when they do stay away from the shops and restaurants. The mountains is the obvious answer; but it's not that simple. It could be running streams, old mining culture, snow, slot-like canyons, waterfalls, or cliffs. I was surprised when a passerby in town wanted to know about a grassy ridge that sits at the top of the southern face of one mountain. I too have been obsessing over this. Maybe ridgeline fans are more numerous than I thought.
Actually you can just barely see the ridgeline at the top of the photo; it inclines toward the right. (As always, clicking the photo enlarges it.) But I can't keep my eyes off of it. I got closer to it on today's hike:
Recall Oscar Wilde's words in An Ideal Husband: 'To look at a thing is quite different from seeing a thing. One does not see anything until one sees its beauty.' There is no shortage of land-forms to practice that wise saying on, here in Ouray; but in the case of ridgelines, this wise saying is upside-down. Looking at a ridgeline, you must admit it is subtle and unspectacular. It's beauty doesn't come from looking at it, but rather, in appreciating how the rest of the world looks when seen from a ridgeline; better yet, imagine the experience of being on the ridgeline, moving along it, rather than looking at anything.
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