Dear Reader,
Today and yesterday, the leaves have started breaking forth from their buds here in Southern Maine. That first, full explosion of green is building slowly, so close we can feel it.
Louise and I have started going on short hikes to make the most of this gorgeous Spring weather and build up our hiking stamina. Last weekend, we climbed Jockeycap – a whopping fifteen minute climb – and enjoyed the sight of eight hawks wheeling and gliding silently overhead at the top.
The weekend before that, we climbed Sunset Rock.
You should understand that we are currently living in my hometown – in fact, in my childhood home. And Sunset Rock is literally across the road from where we live. I can say that I have known Sunset Rock for virtually my whole life.
Yet I never climbed it until now.
Why?
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Sunset Rock is on the other side of a curving road that winds down a steep hill. Perhaps it is also because Sunset Rock is not really a rock, but a hill, and the side facing the road is steep, rocky, and thickly wooded.
But sometime last year, for some reason unknown to me… I said to Louise “I want to climb Sunset Rock next Spring, before the leaves come out. I’ve never climbed it.” This year, Louise, always up for an adventure, reminded me of my words.
We walked down the road a piece to avoid the steep side of the hill, and angled off into the woods, working our way up the slope and along several small rock ledges. It didn’t take long, but I savored every step. It was new ground. I kept turning around to look back and see familiar territory, land I had known all of my life, from a whole new perspective.
When we reached the top, guess what?
There was a large, flat, rocky area, perfect to sit on. And when we looked to the west, we discovered an amazing view of Mt. Washington, miles away in New Hampshire, gleaming white with snow against a deep blue sky.
As we enjoyed this beautiful view, practically in our own back yard, I realized that if I were to sit on that rock facing west later in the day, I would have a perfect view of the sunset.
Sunset Rock.
I had always known the name, and vaguely imagined that it was named for a view from the top (we Mainers can be very practical in our naming of places.) But now, finally, I had lived that view. I understood it in a whole new way. I felt like I had integrated a little piece of myself, and my childhood, by climbing up there and seeing it with my own eyes.
I felt a little lighter, a little more whole.
Is there any part of your life, dear reader, that has gone unexamined by you – perhaps for a lifetime? Is there a bit of landscape, either outer or inner, that you have overlooked or taken for granted?
Maybe it’s time to take a look, and see for yourself what is waiting for you there. You may be rewarded by a shift in perspective, and an amazing view you never knew existed.
Even more important, if your intuition tells you it’s time to investigate something new – trust your intuition.
I honor your loving heart,
John
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