Towering trees, bumbling bees; Azure skies, peaks old and wise
Snowy pebbles, brooks that babble, Mystic mountains, springs and fountains
Plains some mossy, still lakes all glossy; Icy cloaks, pines and oaks
Skulking bears, prancing reindeers;Scampering squirrels furry, coyotes in a hurry
Rains and thunder, Nature’s wonder; Glistening snow, eyes that glow
Hills and vales, Treacherous trails; Winding roads, Glaciers once flowed
Myriad hues, beauty so true; Blue and Golden, resplendence beholden
White and green, a splendid scene; Pristine white, shimmering moonlight
Sculpted boulders, fire that smolders; Zephyrs trance, a verdant dance
Pindrop silence, sweeter than violins; A trickle of water, frozen in winter
Glorious clouds, Beauty endowed; The Great Half dome, God’s own home?
Mother Nature has drawn one of her priceless canvases in Yosemite National park with an elegance that makes her splendor even more beautiful. Big is beautiful at this national park known for its old wise sequoia trees that are the biggest in the world, the tallest waterfalls and the most challenging of peaks protecting themselves from nosy humans by the sheer force of nature again.
I fortunately was permitted to see this priceless picture on a sunny day while it was splashed with a pristine whiteness on the myriad hues of greens and yellows. I hated to sully the whiteness of it with my footprints. While I could not stop Aahing and Wowing and taking pictures, I realized that it was one of those places where a mere camera lens could not capture even a 50th of the beauty that the live canvas possessed.
Someone rightly said, when nature has a project, she is a genius at work. From the bare leafeless tree to the ice laden pine, she ensures each season has something wonderful to look at. I fall short of words here, to describe the endless vales of snow covered pines and cones that I saw and went past, the winding valleys covered with mist and sheer drops below overlooking unbelievable vistas making us want to stop at every twist and turn where there was space to stop and gaze.
Despite all the human advancement, nature still makes man feel miniscule on just seeing the vastness of what She can create. The United States has certainly preserved the park well, and I am pretty thankful and privileged to see such beauty in this world where almost every piece of habitable land has been captured by humans.
The poem was great as were the photographs. If you had captioned them, they would have been even more interesting. Maybe you could do it even now and i will visit again for a relook.
ReplyDeleteThat moose/deer/what? looks like a statue. The flat peak looks great. What is it called?
Very nice blog and pictures too. Especially the last one clearly shows how small the human being is as against nature. One more fact is, in India also the mother nature has showered its blessings abandently. However, our politicians, in their greed to make provision for next ten generations have plundered it without caring a bit for conquences.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing such nice blogs.
Milind
This looks like heaven on earth.I would love to go this year.I knew that it will be good from what you said but this is soo soo beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHow true that everything falls short of words before Mother nature's beauty.Infact I really wonder when will we start realizing that and wake up to preserving it!
@zephyr: Well, I guess, captioning is a mite difficult since most of the places are really random or nameless though they are all within the Yosemite valley..Anyway, the whole place was so pictursque, that even if I had seen a sign about the place, it would have been completely forgotten in watching the sheer beauty of the place.
ReplyDelete@Baba: Thanks for your comment. Well, we did try to capture in the pictures, as to how small and insignificant we were as compared to the magnificence of the forest and the trees. Where India is concerned, I do hope like Tanvi said in her comment, we wake up start preserving it...though I am quite sure, it has been well preserved by nature itself where it has been inhabitable for the multitude of population..in the Himalayas maybe?
ReplyDelete@Tanvi: Thanks for visiting girl. You certainly must visit the place. and from what I know it is beautiful all through the year, come summer or winter like you can see from my pics. Wish we had more such well preserved fantabulous parks on the east coast as well!
ReplyDeleteYour blog has made me wonder whether the same God that made India has made America as well. Here time seems to have stood still and frozen literally and figuratively. The nature is still in its pristine form untouched by the ravages of time. In all the photographs, what struck me most is the absence of intrusive humans and the prevailing silence which is another fascinating aspect of nature. The quiet and utter stillness in nature has a healing power to sooth your frayed nerves and enliven you in moments of great distress.
ReplyDeleteBut the beauty captured in the photographs did not as much captured my heart as did the play and jugglery on words in your beautifully written poem. Do great was the impact of the breathtaking beauty of nature on you as to evoke the most spontaneous outpourings of the heartfelt feelings which found their expression in your poem. The imagery of the oaks and pine wearing ’icy cloaks , the babbling brooks, mystic mountains’ lingered in my mind for long . Here I can see a poet in the making. Most of all I appreciate your seeing divinity in natute and
your reluctance to sully the white beauty of icy expanse at one place was pleasing to my mind.
You are right in your assessment of the Americans with their zeal to preserve their beautiful places which is in total contrast with the attitude of our fellow Indians who have made a total mess of their once equally beautiful country with their apathetic attitude and a lack of reverence for their motherland. The fact is that they don’t live in tune with nature as the Americans do.
Aai
@Aai: Thanks for your wonderful words about the not so poetic poem. Well, I wish you too saw for yourself all the beauty nature has to offer in this world. It is a privilige indeed like I said to be even able to see how gorgeous things can be. I am sure, there are places in India too, that have not been in the reach of humans..such as the himalayas which have been preserved!
ReplyDeleteI feel humbled.
ReplyDelete