LAST YEAR I had a plan: to get to know one place. To spend twelve months travelling in only one spot. Why? Well, the reasons were many. Some were understood. Some were deeper and less understood. Some were probably hidden even from me. And some were shallow. One reason was to write a book about the year, if a book was worth writing. Well, as I said… some of the reasons were shallow.
But that was the plan. One year, one mountain. A very different kind of ‘journey’ to what I’ve been doing for most of my ‘walking life’ – forever moving on. And it went well. Very well. But then it went ‘wrong’. Because when the year finished the journey didn’t – couldn’t. I found myself unable to move on. I couldn’t leave the mountain alone. Still can’t.
The problem: I’m falling for this one mountain and the wilderness that surrounds it in ways I hadn’t expected. It keeps drawing me back, and each time I return the gravity pull only increases. The many weekly visits have added up, layer or upon layer, meaning upon meaning. Each time I step back onto the One Place the value of it increases. Emotions for it that I cannot yet articulate deepen and strengthen and increasingly overwhelm. There’s a warmth. A benign embracing softness. A sigh that swallows me whole. Or something like that! As I’ve just demonstrated, perhaps, the feelings go beyond words! Words are such superficial surface things. The full truth on the other hand, the feeling, is everything. It’s the universe acknowledging itself.
I’m trying to write about it, beyond this little blog. My third book, perhaps? I’m digging for the words. They’ll take time to come. For now, I’ll share a few images, taken over the last month or so. Probably, they’ll appear to be nothing more than a selection of scenic photos. You’ll probably skim through them, perhaps hesitating for a second or two, then move on. I hope they bring some small momentary pleasure, at least.
One day I’ll try to share what underpins them. But until then…
