I've been meaning to take a photograph of the expanse of the Maple for years now. But the access road off the highway is on my way to work. And I usually feel like I'm in a hurry, so I wasn't able to.
Until today--I had an hour before my first meeting, so I took the detour. The Maple is the biggest of my four rivers (I think)--at least at the point where I cross it. The kids and I used to call it taking a deep breath of beauty because of all the sunrises on the way to school.
When I got to the lookout point this morning, it was a bit disappointing because the reeds were taller than me, and I couldn't really see the river. But it was very quiet and calm and smelled briny and rustic and there was a bright blue sky and sunshine... so I spent some time soaking it all in.
And now I know. It's checked off my mental list. I don't have to wonder about the view from the outlook or feel regret about not making the time to take a detour.
Also: I'm SO relieved to be finished with Hello, Beautiful. Everyone seems to have loved it, but about halfway through I disagreed fiercely with a primary character's decision. Then I began to realize the writing couldn't really keep up and resorted to a lot of telling (v. showing) etc.
Pic: Finally, I get to take a picture from the bank of the Maple River.
5 comments:
Wow, four rivers. Our neighborhood is between two creeks and the closer one is one of my favorite places to walk.
Nice.
Lovely post about your rivers and desire to take the time to experience the view of one. I often think about detouring on familiar routes to see things and never do, even when not pressed for time. I don't know where my sense of Hurry comes from, now in Retirement. Years and years of Beating The Clock dies hard, I guess.
I finished Hello, Beautiful some time ago, and I liked it very much. There were so many things I related to and appreciated about the characters and their emotions. I understand your criticism, however; I'm finding that to be my problem in our book club book.
(I love the phrase "taking a deep breath of beauty". It's something I try to do often, especially when trees are involved.)
Steph--I commute an hour each way, so it's nice that the rivers break up the monotony of the highways. I've been loving your early spring pictures by the creek.
Gillian--thanks!
Nance--I hear you! Some day I want to take a road trip where I take all the detours and visit all the roadside attractions we come across!
I'm glad I read Hello, Beautiful... I enjoyed large parts of the book too. I know Sylvie "fell in love" and didn't "choose" him, but that's where the book began to pall for me. After that, every time I was told how much Sylvie loved Julia, it rang a bit hollow to me.
That is a gorgeous photo - look at that blue sky!
I felt the same way - I was disappointed with Hello Beautiful. I loved Little Women so much and this just seemed...kind of meh. I can't remember the big decisions, we will have to talk about it later. And yes, the telling instead of showing is something I deeply dislike. I just finished Strange Sally Diamond and I thought that suffered from it terribly.
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