OUT OF THE SHADOW, UNTO THE MOUNTAIN
Our first clear day since our arrival.
It beckoned for us to venture into our unchartered surroundings.
Just out our front door, there are so many paths to every mountain in sight.
One cannot choose wrongly. The view, no matter which way you take, is beautiful.
Golden hillsides of wheat wave with the earth, carved by the snow, waxing and waning,
shaping the mountain tops with thick white blankets, tossed onto a jagged horizon.
Yellow earth, red leaves, the greenest lichen, all shined into life with the sunlight.
We watched the sheep venture across the trails they knew so well, far ahead of us.
And we came upon dozens of streams, gushing with the freshest of crystal water,
flowing from the melting ice above. Like waterfalls, the cascading fountains
trickled over and under the earth we walked upon. We drank from it.
"It's like milk," Hannah said. So pure and icy.
Never have I had water so refreshing.
As we watched the sun set into a pink sky,
setting a rose tint to the tips of the mountains,
we brought our adventurous day to a close at the town pool.
All natural, geothermal heated water greeted our tired bodies with respite.
From temperatures that felt boiling to just right for a towering, spiral water slide.
Now, after a day of exploration, new discoveries, and great relief,
we await the aurora's return. Skies are clear tonight.
No matter, for they will surely come.
This is the land of the light
in the dark.