The Surface of Things

"I live so much in my habitual thoughts that I forget there is any outside to the globe, and am surprised when I behold it as now--yonder hills and river in the moonlight, the monsters. Yet it is salutary to deal with the surface of things. What are these rivers and hills, these hieroglyphics which my eyes behold? There is something invigorating in this air, which I am peculiarly sensible is a real wind, blowing from over the surface of a planet. I look out at my eyes. I come to my window, and I feel and breathe the fresh air. It is a fact equally glorious with the most inward experience. Why have we ever slandered the outward?"
-  Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), Journal Vol. 4, 1852

Spirituality and Nature

 

A scene along the Sacramento River near Red Bluff, California.  Volcano cones in the distance.  The area north of Red Bluff is forested with oaks.  Our area is considered to be the beginning of the Cascade Mountain range, starting with Mt. Lassen.