The mountains are alive because … the elegant verdant pines grow and flourish, the azure crystal blue lake generates an environment of life, the grey, stoic boulders impress by marking their endurance, the muddy brown bark stands tall and vertical, the mahogany pine cones hang and drop, the yellow broomstick and daffodil blossoms deliver an effortless spring, the violet blue wildflowers arise out of a carpet of forgotten leafed plants and the clear sky, occasionally dotted with cotton puffs, cleans and amplifies the landscape; generating a reflection of a rugged natural wonder by day and blanketing the evening with glittering stars by night.

The mountains are alive because … the lap of the lake water smacks and resonates with human sighs,  the various Western birds flutter with song and squawk in a composed symphony of chit chat, the chipmunks and squirrels chirp, climb and cheer throughout the woods, scampering, collecting and chomping down on nuts, the leaves rustle, the pine needles swish, the wind blows and you can hear the earth as it breathes and turns.

The mountains are alive because … the smell of pine permeates the thin air as it steams in the sun,  the ground exhales, the breeze carries a steady mixture of soil and flower fragrance,  the lake rises and falls with an aromatic mist, the ducks and geese produce a wild but pleasant odor of fowl and you inhale awareness and a captivating feeling of being among the living.

The mountains are alive because … there exists a whole world inside the lake reeling with fish, multi-colored, wet rocks and plants swaying under the liquid.  The lake tastes sweet and light.  The soil beckons beneath with micro-organisms, fungi and tunnels for discreet mammals to scurry to and fro.  The evergreens poke and prick or brush by with home grown varnish and sap.  The seeds scatter and begin anew.

Come winter, the quiet snow falls from the heavens covering and holding it all in ice white satin.  The angels are amongst us here.  The quality of solitude rests with this mountain top space on a profound and (the quite unexpected), sophisticated level.

THIS realization, is my religion.  This is why it is so alive.