Have you ever been to the mountains?
A couple weeks ago we talked about the desert, so it’s only fair that the mountains get their turn in the spotlight, too.
When I was a little girl, my grandparents had a cabin up near Donner Lake in California. Most of the world thinks of Tahoe as the must-visit destination in that area, but I always loved Donner. Beautiful scenery, lots of nature, and fewer tourists than Tahoe.
There was something magical about being in the woods and listening to the wind whistle through the tops of the pine trees. As a kid, I believed the wind was talking to me. It sounded just like whispering voices, after all.
We saw a lot of blue jays around there, too. They’re beautiful birds. I see them occasionally here in Virginia, but never as frequently as I saw them at Donner. Squirrels lived in abundance, too. My grandfather was an avid peanut eater. In the shell, of course. Or…at least, he bought them in the shell. He took them out of the shell before eating them. (Obviously.)
Because I adored my grandfather, I of course had to do everything he did. Including eat peanuts. Only, I was also a little girl who needed entertaining. So I would take my empty peanut shells, fill them with pine needles and leaves from the ground, put them back together, and lay them out for the squirrels to find. I could entertain myself for hours watching those squirrels grab up those shells, crack them open, and then throw a fit when they didn’t find peanuts inside. They would chatter up a storm before storming off.
We went for long walks, rode bikes, caught a lot of fish, and played numerous hands of solitaire up there in the mountains. And – unlike the desert – I never an into a rattlesnake or got chased by a jumping tarantula. It was fun and carefree, a treasured part of my childhood. My heart swells with all kinds of warm emotions whenever I think back to those times spent in the mountains.
What about you? Any mountain stories to share? Places you’ve visited – or that you want to visit someday? If you’re not a mountain-lover, tell me why. I look forward to hearing from all of you!
Heather
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Last Week on Inspy Romance:
Monday: Ginger Solomon talks about “me time” as a mom, wife, and author.
Tuesday: Jill Weatherholt explores the differences in dating between the 1950s and today.
Wednesday: Elizabeth Maddrey celebrates Christmas in July.
Thursday: Roxanne Rustand shares her discover of bullet journaling.
Friday: Valerie Comer ponders audio books and offers a giveaway.
Saturday: Heidi McCahan interviews the hero from More Than Words.
Next Week on Inspy Romance:
Monday: Merrillee Whren
Tuesday: Sally Bradley
Wednesday: Debra Lynn Collins
Thursday: Heather Gray
Friday: JoAnn Durgin
Saturday: Autumn Macarthur
NEW RELEASES
July 2016
A Bond of the Heart (Sacred Bond Guardians 6) by Lee Tobin McClain
Secrets of Sunbeams (Urban Farm Fresh Romance 1) by Valerie Comer
Teapots & Tiaras (Love in Store 5) by Autumn Macarthur
Gentle Like the Rain by JoAnn Durgin
August 2016
Small-Town Girl (Goose Harbor) by Jessica Keller
When I’m Weak (Grace 2) by Staci Stallings
Butterflies on Breezes (Urban Farm Fresh Romance 2) by Valerie Comer
Heather Gray loves coffee, God, her family, and laughter – not necessarily in that order! She writes approachable characters who, through the highs and lows of life, find a way to love God, embrace each day, and laugh out loud right along with her. And, yeah, her books almost always have someone who's a coffee addict. Some things just can't be helped. Despite their different lives and situations, Heather’s characters have something in common. They're all flawed...but loved anyway.
Hi Heather! In SW Michigan we have lots of black squirrels that spent hours searching for their buried acorns. This summer we have a blue jay that has appointed himself to be our local guard and patrols our home every morning. First he land on a wire in our backyard and scans it. Then flies to the wire in the side yard a spud scans that. Finally he lands and the basketball hoop and scans the front yard. We love watching his routine.
I love the mountains. I have visited the Japanese Alps. Beautiful. Remind me of the Swiss Alps with a California coastline. There are many legends with this beautiful part of Japan. I also visited the Swiss Alps. My favorite spot in the world is Lake Berienz near Interlaken. Pristine water surrounded by majestic snow capped mountains. My favorite mountains in the US are the Smoky Mountains with the babbling brooks under the shady trees. Each area so unique.
Donner Lake sounds lovely. I have never seen a squirrel (except on the Gruffly;) and they sound like fun to watch. We don’t have mountains like you guys do in the US, but I do enjoy our High Country/Australian Alps. Of course, there are snakes there:( and spiders:( so your Donner Lake sounds ideal.
Wow Renate! It sounds like you’ve sampled culture (and scenery) from all over the world! It’s it wonderful to get to experience God’s creation from so many different points of view? God isn’t just in the *big* parts of our lives, but He’s also in the details – the flower petals, pine trees, squirrels, and blue jays. :)
I’m so glad you could stop by today! I would love to visit Australia someday. Every time I pick up a book of fiction placed in Australia, I’m captivated. It doesn’t hurt that you have a bunch of animals there that I only get to see in zoos here. :)
Our family loves the mountains. We have lived near the bay, the ocean, the valley and near the mountains. Each place is unique and beautiful. One year, early in our marriage, hubby and I decided to take an anniversary trip to the Skyline Drive in VA. The weather was fine,until we turned a corner and the top of the mountain was covered in ice. The Skyline Drive was closed. So, we had to go back into a small town and stay at a hotel there. All was fine, but, we missed our mountain vacation.
I love the mountains, Heather. I’ve been to Colorado and we drove up Pike’s Peak…YIKES! My favorite mountains are the ones that are close to where I grew up, the Shenandoah Valley. It’s such a beautiful area. I knew when I wrote my first book, releasing in March, 2017, that’s where my story would be set. Have a blessed Sunday,
I’m from Kansas so I love visiting mountains (but don’t really want to live in them….). We went to Colorado almost every summer when I was growing up. Many of those times was to a camp called the WILDS near Steamboat Springs. One year I got to go to Winter camp up there and it was amazing. So much snow! We would also tent camp in Rocky Mountain National Park. I love all the animals there. I think marmots were my favorite. In high school we visited Yellowstone and the Tetons which I think have a majesty all their own.
In college I got to go to Europe with a musical mission team. One of my favorite stops was in the Basque Pyranees, in Spain, where we got to hike to the top of one of the mountains. That part of the Pyranees doesn’t have snow-capped mountains, but was a lush but rugged green. Our last 4 or 5 days in Europe we relaxed and recharged in Switzerland (we’d sung 65 concerts in 73 days and traveled 8700 miles by van and we were tired!) spending a couple of those days in Zermatt at the base of the Matterhorn. Our team leaders were on their 20th summer and they said sometimes the groups didn’t really get to see the Matterhorn because of the weather – it creates its own clouds, but the weather was perfect for us and we had some beautiful views. Someday I would love to go back to all of those places and take my family. =)
Heather,
I’m from Oregon and we can be at the mountains or the beach in a couple of hours anytime we want. I love the mountains. When I was real young we lived at the foot of the Wallowa Mountains. It’s considered the American Alps. It’s so beautiful! Then we lived near the Three Sisters in Central Oregon. And through out my life I’ve been near Mt. Hood which I can see from almost any where I go in town.
It’s so great to see the majesty of God!
We’ve been to Skyline Drive! It’s a beautiful (but very slow) drive during the fall when the leaves are changing color. So sorry you didn’t get to enjoy the full experience! You’re so right, though – each part of God’s landscape is beautiful in its own unique way. There’s something to be in awe of all around us if we just take the time to look. :)
So glad you could stop by today Jill! I have a friend whose son graduated from Shenandoah University here recently. You’re right – that whole region is beautiful! And when you sit down to write your first book…well, sometimes it’s easiest to pick a setting you’re already familiar with. When you’ve been there, smelled the air, tasted the seasons, and walked the streets, it’s so much easier to capture that setting and convey it to your readers. Congrats on the book!
Wow Katy! That sounds like an amazing adventure! The mountains in Colorado are beautiful – there’s something bout those Rockies that just overpower you with their majesty. And Yellowstone is gorgeous. I’ve always wanted to get to Teton National Park, but I’ve not made it yet. As for Europe – all I can say is yowzers! It’s amazing any of y’all had voices by the time you were done with that trip!! But the sights you got to see – very few people can say they’ve experienced something like that. What a blessing!!
Oregon has such beautiful scenery! The last time I was there – which has been several years now – the thing that most caught my eye was that almost everywhere we went, there was a waterfall. From big giant ones to little tiny ones on the sides of the road. Considering that I lived in Arizona at the time, the sight of so much water was downright magical to me! :) It sounds like you do indeed live in a lovely part of the country. And you’re so right – God’s majesty is magnificent! No wonder scripture tells us that all of nature declares His glory!
We were in the high desert mountains camping.I woke up and my dog was missing.
I looked up and she was strolling back into camp followed by a coyote.
I look out my back window at the mountains. I’d share a photo, but I can’t.
I love watching squirrel’s and birds.It’s so nice to sit out and watch the different animals.We have deer that come in the yard.I love when the fawns are out they are so cute.
I love mountains! I am a Vermonter by birth who now lives in Maine. When I was in high school our French Club went to France and we went to Chamonix – simply amazing. I traveled to Colorado for work once and my husband and I spent part of our honeymoon in Denali National Park in Alaska. Don’t laugh, but I am terrified of heights. So on one of the stops along the Park road in Denali, my husband tells the driver that the road without guardrails makes me nervous – especially when we meet another bus. He tells the driver my cadence “he wants to get home as badly as I do”. The driver laughs and makes some comment regarding his meds having run out. What a comedian :)
Happy SONday Heather and all Inspy peeps! We’re surrounded here by mountains living on the Oregon coast, and Washington state too. Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainer and Mt. Everest (yes the one that blew in the 80’s). Hubby and I took a trip to the Olympic National Park in WA years ago for one of our anniversary trips. We had wanted to do it the year before, but the pass wasn’t open due to the amount of snow they got. Anyway, we drove up a ways, pulled the car over to get out, and just looked over the massive mountain range below us. Here I was in sandals (with socks, lol), a winter coat, hat scarf and gloves, but I was having a blast being in AWE of the sights….nothing but mountains & snow!! WOW, you don’t truly understand until you see it with your own eyes, and you still can’t believe what you are seeing, lol! It’s magnificent beauty takes your breath away (not to mention the COLD) :-)
The other place we’ve been to twice, is Leavenworth WA (no, not the prison) and the town literally sits at the foot of the Cascade mountains. It was such a gorgeous drive through the pass with sheer rocks on one side of you and steep cliffs on the other side. It’s a truly magnificent drive. Nothing like it in the world! I love living where you have oceans and mountians within miles of each other!
Blessings on the Lords day!
Eek! I’ve seen coyotes, and I’ve fled a pack of them that I could hear (but not see) approaching. But I’m pretty sure I’d have palpitations on the spot if I saw one following my dog. Or strolling into my camp. How did you get the coyote to leave?
What a beautiful sight to wake up to every day! I’ll bet it gives you great inspiration for writing… :)
So glad you could visit today Nancy! We live in an urban area, but we still see deer fairly often. I’ve captured pictures of them eating from a tree just feet from my back door. I also have a skunk that seems to really like my back yard. Personally, I prefer the deer!! :)
Denali – oh wow! I’ve always wanted to go to Alaska. Hopefully someday. Meanwhile, I’ll just live vicariously through other people’s experiences – entertaining bus driver and all! :) (If I’m being honest – I get nervous on city streets when cars are parked down both sides and two lanes of traffic are passing in the middle – sometimes there just doesn’t quite seem like enough room. If that makes me nervous, then I’m pretty sure passing a bus on a mountain road w/ no guardrail isn’t going to be on my wishlist of adventures!) ^_^
Trixi – So glad you could stop by today! Your comment made me chuckle. You said you live in Oregon…near Mount Everest. I had this conversation in my head: “Is Mount Everest in America? I thought it was somewhere else. Maybe I was wrong. But sherpas. Mount Everest has sherpas, and we don’t have sherpas in America. Is there such a thing as an American sherpa?” Yes, it’s true. Sometimes I’m easily amused. ^_^ I don’t remember Mount St. Helens blowing, but we learned about it every year in school when I was a kid in Nevada, and every time the wildfires hit Montana, my grandmother would compare the ash clouds to the ones they got from Mount St. Helens. Did you live in the area back in 1980 when that happened? I can’t imagine.
Ahhhhhhhh……Heather I’m so sorry!!!! I meant My St. Helens in WA, I don’t know why I typed Mt Everest, goodness!!
I didn’t live in this area when it happened as I grew up in Illinois and was a teenager at that time. We saw it on the news though, I remember thinking how scary that must be for the people who lived near it! My husband was a teen too (there’s 6yrs difference between us), but he lived in WA at that time with his family (his sister too, only a year older). I don’t think they lived all that close, but it made it much more personal to him. He might have even mentioned something about how hazy the air was. I remember hearing on the news how the ashes covered everything for miles on end, kind of like snow. I can’t imagine! When I go to visit my sis-in-law in WA, if it’s a clear day, I can see both Mt. St. Helens and Mt Rainer in the distance!
My auto-correct hates me….that’s supposed to read Mt St Helens NOT My St Helens….LOL!! Oy vay!!
I live in northern CA in a small town. Luckily for me I am just miles away from places like Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, Lake Tahoe and many other great places!
Hahaha! You made me laugh Trixi. Mt. Everest, My St. Helens…it’s all good! :) :)
What a beautiful part of the country to live in Linda! We used to visit San Francisco when I was in gradeschool, and I loved it there. The bay was beautiful back then. I suppose it still is. :) We used to buy loaves of sourdough bread from street vendors, too. Fun memories!