Wonders near home

[Perry J]

I sometimes forget how lucky I am.
I live surrounded by the Sequoia National Forest.
About a month ago in the Trail if the Giants Sequoia Grove a double Giant Sequoia that was 240 feet tall and 17 feet in diameter fell over for no apparent reason.
There are about 110 trees in the grove and this was not the largest one.
It's only about 40 miles from my home so I drove up yesterday for a look.
It takes your breath away to look and be among at these magnificent living things that were old when Jesus was born.
People drive thousands of miles to see all the wonders I'm surrounded with and take for granted.
I'm curious how many others take for granted the beauty they are surrounded by.
The first 2 pics are of the downed tree.
The third pic is of a tree my 40 year old son ran around and through when he was about 2 yo.
It's impossible to capture the true majesty of these awsome trees with a camera.
John

[Alf S.]

Hi: Perry J...That one will be a "Condo" development for all sorts of birds and bees soon!!!
I think most everyone takes for granted what's close to home in the grand scheme of planing trips!!!
My bro-n-law is home from Bakersfield this weekend and I am going to put a bug in his ear about possible driveway camping space for our first retirement trip.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Mark J]

"Oh the wonder of it all", someday my bride and I hope to come visit "your backyard". The trees don't get that large here in Minnesota

[Diane R.]

I live just across the river from Minnesota, and I keep reminding myself to enjoy the beauty around me. There is the wonderful St. Croix river valley, and awesome rock and glacier formations. The Fall colors were breathtaking this year!

[WildBirder]

These trees are truly amazing not just in there unprecedented size but in there ecology. They require forest fires as part of there reproductive cycle. Due to human fire suppression these tress are not able to reproduce as they should and will slowly become less common. There is talk of burning some of these ancient trees and surrounding habitat to aid in their natural cycle.
john it's great you took the time to drive out there. I live in BC and never forget how lucky I am. Sequoia National Forest is on itinerary for this spring.

Cheers,
Mark

[Green Frog]

Living in (and growing up in) the Blue Ridge Mountains of Central VA, I had the opportunity as a child to see the ghost forests of the dead American Chestnut, some laying down, but some still standing. These trees were one of the dominant species of the great Eastern Hardwood Forest until killed by a fast moving blight in the 1920s and '30s. As late as the mid '70s their trunks were still visible as one of the characteristics of Chestnut is its resistance to decay.

Alas, they are mostly gone now, but the beauty of the Blue Ridge remains. I still look out my parents' window and see the Peaks of Otter on the skyline, and am only 30 minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Life is good!

Froggie

[floyd]

Here in northern Illannoy, we have those "magnificent" corn and bean fields.
Some of those plants are as much as 4 months old! Fortunately they allow for a lot of straight roads, which can be used to get elsewhere to more interesting places. Now THAT'S why I love my Scamp!

[Adrian W]

Yep! Those Giant Sequoia & Redwoods are Things of Beauty. But I believe we all have "Wonders Near Home", if we take the time to see what's around us. Even those "magnificent" corn and bean fields of the mid-west. I know we found some excellent vistas from the fields in North Dakota. And in the Big Boys of Arizona:


Or a Windmill or a couple of Torrie Yuccas in New Mexico:


Or the Organs Turned Pink:

Or Sugar Loaf Peak catching some Sun in the Organ Mts:

Or a Lava Formation in the Valley of Fires:


一切都美，但并不是每个人都看到它。
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.
~Confucius

Beauty in things exists in the mind which contemplates them.
~David Hume

Beauty is in the heart of the beholder.
~H. G. Wells

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

What beauty is, I know not, though it adheres to many things.
~Albrecht Durer

You can't really say what is beautiful about a place, but the image of the place will remain vividly with you.
~Tadao Ando

When your inner eyes open, you can find immense beauty hidden within the inconsequential details of daily life.
~Timothy Ray Miller

Adrian

PS: I could not find my ND Canola Field photos, but I found this one on line:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3178032...3699/lightbox/
Ditto on the Flax fields & Sunflower fields:
http://www.timhaufphotography.com/Pa...652_ttwCz-A-LB
http://www.fotosearch.com/CSP248/k2481990/

Here's my attempt to capture a North Dakota Country Church with Sunflowers. Excuse the flash reflection. A small painting, Acrlyic on Canvas Panel, 2005
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...ithSunflow.jpg

My rendering of a Windmill & Loading Shute in Norgal Canyon about 100 miles or so north of us off I-25, plus about 10 to 15 miles up Norgal Canyon Road.
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...adingShute.jpg

A Long Dead Juniper has beauty to me & can suggest lots of color. Soledad Canyon Solitude:
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/l...onSolitude.jpg

[Perry J]

Adrian, thankks for sharing you Wonders near home.
John

[Karalyn]

This is why I want to travel, just to see the beauty God has made throughout the country. Floyd, I had to chuckle at your comment. Even those corn fields are beautiful to us all when we think of what they produce.

[WildBirder]

Originally Posted by floyd

Here in northern Illannoy, we have those "magnificent" corn and bean fields.
Some of those plants are as much as 4 months old! Fortunately they allow for a lot of straight roads, which can be used to get elsewhere to more interesting places. Now THAT'S why I love my Scamp!

Cracks me up. Though I have to say I was raised in the prairies and can remember seeing fields of wheat that stretched as for as you could see. The wind would blow it in giant golden patterns as the sun was setting. Gives any ocean sunset I've seen a run for the money.

Mark

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Karalyn

This is why I want to travel, just to see the beauty God has made throughout the country. Floyd, I had to chuckle at your comment. Even those corn fields are beautiful to us all when we think of what they produce.

So are the feed lots and hog farms. Heck, around here people pay big money for memberships so they can swim in the stripmines. They pay extra to build their houses on the spoils piles!
In all honesty we do have some nice bike paths along the rivers and canals, and a couple of nice parks within a few miles.
I must say though, I thought Adrian W's last picture was a close-up of a common sight found in a pasture!
Perspective is important!

[Karalyn]

ya, huge cow pile maybe LOL

[SherryNPaul]

Originally Posted by Perry J

I sometimes forget how lucky I am.
I live surrounded by the Sequoia National Forest.
.....
It takes your breath away to look and be among at these magnificent living things that were old when Jesus was born.
People drive thousands of miles to see all the wonders I'm surrounded with and take for granted.
.....
John

John,
Many of us drive thousands of miles to see your local majesty, and we're often guilty of shorting the majesty around us.
Thanks for the reminder!
Sherry

[Donna D.]

I think the biggest lesson to be learned, is often you don't have to drive miles to see some great things. Often we need to think of ourselves as being a tourist or a visitor in our own towns to see what others come to see. Museums, vistas, etc. I can camp easily within 45 minutes of my home and it's just as grand as hundred of miles away!

Silver Falls State Park is easily within an hour from me and I live in Oregon's largest city: http://www.katu.com/younews/132889253.html

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

I think the biggest lesson to be learned, is often you don't have to drive miles to see some great things. Often we need to think of ourselves as being a tourist or a visitor in our own towns to see what others come to see. Museums, vistas, etc. I can camp easily within 45 minutes of my home and it's just as grand as hundred of miles away!

True at certain times of the year. When it comes to Jan, Feb, March, the Pacific Northwet is not so nice. Time to go farther afield.

[Marg]

Originally Posted by SherryNPaul

John,
Many of us drive thousands of miles to see your local majesty, and we're often guilty of shorting the majesty around us.
Thanks for the reminder!
Sherry

You are right, Sherry, I love to travel just the three western states. I have been doing it for quite a few years and have yet to see all there is to see in CA, NV & OR. One of my favorite places to camp is the CA State Mill Creek campground south of Crescent City. Sorry to say, it is one of the campgrounds that got the "axe" this fall. Jedediah Smith State Park is open, but a reservation is strongly suggested. Mill Creek used to be the overflow for Jedediah Smith so there was always a good chance to get a camp there. Marg in NW California