Monday Memories: Scenic Mountain Vistas

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Sitting home, isolated and alone

Taking virtual trips, changes life’s tone

 

America’s landscapes invite us in

Scenic mountain vistas, adventures grin

 

Alaska Range, home to our northernmost peaks

Denali “the tall one” forever speaks

 

Cascade Range roams the Pacific Northwest

Snow-capped volcanoes offer stunning quests

 

Sierra Nevada’s enchanted land

Host national parks, majestic and grand

 

Rocky Mountains form this nation’s backbone

Stunning beauty, more precious than gemstones

 

Sawtooth Mountains salute from Idaho

Endless summits bring skiers to the snow

 

Bighorn Mountains, sacred to native ways

Montana-Wyoming border sings praise

 

Adirondack Mountains, New York’s playground

Winter skiing, fall foliage—best around

 

Great Smoky Mountains push for Tennessee

Fog-covered peaks, spellbinding all agree

 

Blue Ridge Mountains welcome us back home

Free-flowing Shenandoah smiles and roams

 

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Wherever you live or where your travels take you, you may have a favorite mountain paradise.  One of my precious favorites is the Beartooth Mountains in south-central Montana, a stone’s throw away from Yellowstone National Park.  

You are invited to share one of your special places in the comments.

Montana’s rugged Beartooth Mountains [photo courtesy of pinterest].

Originally published July, 2020.

Charles M. Russell Quotes

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Guard, protect, and cherish your land, for there is no afterlife for a place that started out as Heaven.

The West is dead . . . you may lose a sweetheart but you won’t forget her.  (Excerpt from his book, Trails Plowed Under:  Stories of the Old West.)

Charles M. Russell (1864-1926) was an American western artist.  From his adopted home of Montana, he produced some of the most notable paintings and sculptures of Native American life, cowboys on the open range, and unforgettable landscapes of the Treasure State.

Monday Memories: Harmony in Creation

This poem is inspired with Creation’s visions from Psalm 104 (the poem’s first 12 verses), and with a response from the hymn “My Life Flows On in Endless Song” (the poem’s final six verses).

clouds

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Clothed with Holy majesty and honor

Heavens stretching out to infinity

Our Lord’s masterpiece endures forever

Clouds witness this sacred affinity

 

Earth’s foundation, never to be shaken

Lofty mountaintops look upon it all

Safe refuge waiting in fertile valleys

Creation’s spirit fulfilling each call

 

From flowing springs, animals quenching thirst

Every season following moon’s phases

Birds singing praise from highest tree branches

Rising and setting sun painting praises

 

God’s creation flowing as endless songs

Nothing shall ever shake its inner calm

Echoing across earth’s fruitful valleys

Scaling each mountaintop as joyful Psalms

 

Creation’s fountain forever springing

Beauty of the Lord’s harmony singing

time lapse photo of water falls in the forest

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From Colossians 1:16:  “For in Him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through Him and for Him.”

Here is the melody and lyrics to “My Life Flows On in Endless Song”:

Originally published June, 2020.

Autumn’s Scrapbook (Haiku Series #252)

Energizing Minutes

Fall’s invitation

Fulfilling countryside drive—

Witnessing brilliance

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Witnessing Treasures

Autumn’s gifted day

Shaping life before our eyes—

Mum’s changing colors

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Coloring Sketches

Tree-lined avenue

Passing cars stirring up leaves—

Landscape swirls about

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Conversation at Sunrise (Haiku Series #245)

Illuminating

Nourishing landscape

Radiating at sunrise—

Creator’s spirit

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Gathering

Enduring sunrise

Wakening morning’s treasures—

New day beginning

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Summoning

In early dawn’s light

Nighttime passes her baton—

Horizon’s sunrise

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Divine Handiwork (Haiku Series #235)

Earthly Narrative

Shared through countless scenes

Multitude of pages speak—

Creator crafts script

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Splendor’s Charm

Nature’s adventure

Invited by Creator—

Endless dynamics

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Precious Treasures

Each cherished landscape

Mother Earth sharing her gifts—

Creator’s vision

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Monday Memories: Rugged Beauty

Have you ever visited any of America’s western badlands?  Some of my travels have allowed me the privilege to experience these wonders of nature.

2018 August Montana Trip 185

A panoramic view of the Painted Canyon Overlook off of Interstate 94 near Medora, North Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Hidden beauty, waiting to be found

Western badlands, ready to be crowned

 

Nature proclaims its rugged features

Wildlife views from its austere bleachers

 

Kaleidoscope of creatures around

Falcons, eagles, deer, bison abound

 

Barren environment, a wasteland

Native tribes nicknaming this “bad land”

 

Slippery clay gumbo, sinking sand

Fur trappers evade these harsh badlands

 

Timely erosion unearths treasures

Fossil beds offering up pleasures

 

Late spring rains transform the quiet view

Green velvet covers buttes, right on cue

 

Sleeping landscape erupts with color

Prairie flowers dazzle and holler

 

Brilliant colors reflect morning’s light

Ravines, gullies paint prismatic sights

2018 August Montana Trip 187

Another view of the North Dakota badlands.  If one looks closely, there is an American Bison in the center of this photo.

My journeys out West have offered opportunities to visit three of America’s treasured badlands:  Makoshika State Park (near Glendive, Montana), Theodore Roosevelt National Park (near Medora, North Dakota), and Badlands National Park (near Rapid City, South Dakota).

Originally published May, 2020.

Nature’s Storylines (Haiku Series #198)

Perpetual

Transition’s river

Creation’s tireless seasons—

Lasting ebb and flow

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Instinctive

Blessed reminder

Painting life’s daily landscape—

Creator’s witness

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Doggedness

So much to enjoy

Waiting again to blossom—

Steady persistence

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Morning’s Arrival

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Another sunrise stirring

Playful sunbeams wakening

Night’s peaceful slumber fading

Nature’s gift deserves praising

 

Quiet, gentle breeze breathing

Summer’s garden rejoicing

Big sky’s blue hues revealing

Nature’s paradise smiling

 

Time searches, never pausing

Mysteries for exploring

Future chapters inviting

Nature’s narrative writing

 

Landscape’s tune humming

Joy dances, everlasting

Morning flows with each painting

Nature’s canvas, spellbinding

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Winter’s Innocence (Haiku Series #168)

Dazzling

Fresh, fallen snowflakes

Morning’s glistening landscape—

Sparkling winter day

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Reverent

From winter’s postcard

Covered with fresh, powder snow—

Majestic pines rise

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Untouched

Calm valley meadow

Undisturbed snowy blanket—

Cautious buck deer waits

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