Showing posts with label mountains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mountains. Show all posts

Friday, August 1, 2025

August


This was its promise, held to faithfully: 
The early morning sun came in this way 
Until the angle of its saffron beam
Between the curtains and the sofa lay, 

 And with its ochre* heat it spread across 
The village houses, and the nearby wood, 
Upon my bed and on my dampened pillow 
And to the corner where the bookcase stood. 

Then I recalled the reason why my pillow 
Had been so dampened by those tears that fell-
I'd dreamt I saw you coming one by one 
Across the wood to wish me your farewell. 
Marie Byars photography, Phoenix Arizona, Peoria Arizona, sunset
You came in ones and twos, a straggling crowd; 
Then suddenly someone mentioned a word: 
It was the sixth of August, by Old Style**, 
And the Transfiguration of Our Lord***. 

For from Mount Tabor*** usually this day 
There comes a light without a flame to shine
And autumn draws all eyes upon itself 
As clear and unmistaken as a sign.****

But you came forward through the tiny, stripped, 
The pauperly and trembling alder grove, 
Into the graveyard's coppice, russet-red*****
Which, like stamped gingerbread, lay there and glowed. 

 And with the silence of those high treetops 
Was neighbour only the imposing sky 
And in the echoed crowing of the cocks 
The distances and distances rang by: 

There in the churchyard underneath the trees, 
Like some surveyor from the government 
Death gazed on my pale face to estimate 
How large a grave would suit my measurement

All those who stood there could distinctly hear
A quiet voice emerge from where I lay: 
The voice was mine, my past; prophetic words 
That sounded now, unsullied by decay:

'Farewell, wonder of azure and of gold,
Surrounding the Transfiguration's power: 
Assuage now with a woman's last caress 
The bitterness of my predestined hour! 

'Farewell timeless expanse of passing years!
Farewell, woman who flung your challenge steeled 
Against the abyss of humiliations: 
For it is I who am your battlefield! 

'Farewell, you span of open wings outspread, 
The voluntary obstinacy of flight, 
O figure of the world revealed in speech, 
Creative genius, wonder-working might!'
--Boris Pasternak [author of Dr. Zhivago], 1890-1960

*ochre--  deep orange-y brown
**adjusted calendar:  Pope Gregory XIII adjusted the calendar in 1582.  Due to the way leap days had been inserted, there had been "seasonal creep."  About 11 days were taken out of the calendar, readjusting dates, and leap days were no longer inserted in years that are divisible by 100 (i.e. 1700), unless they are also divisible by 400 (i.e. 2000).  
   Protestant-dominated countries were slower to adopt the calendar. Great Britain and its colonies adopted the Gregorian Calendar in September of 1752.  You may have heard that Washington's birthday 'moved'?
   Eastern Orthodox countries were even slower to adopt the new calendar, which most did for purely civic, non-church purposes. Within Orthodox churches, the 'old calendar' is often still used.
***Feast of Transfiguration/Mt. Tabor.  Eastern Orthodox churches celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration on the 6th of August.  Lutherans used to use this date, also. Transfiguration is the event where Jesus shone forth brightly on a mountaintop.  Many Christian traditions suggested this was Mt. Tabor.
      Roman Catholics set the date as the last Sunday before Lent. This is when Lutherans now celebrate it. This makes sense, as the event was one of the final ones before Jesus travelled to Jerusalem to give His life for the world.
****August giving way to autumn.  Not really a factor where I currently live but it is in many places.
*****russet red coppice--  russet is a dark-brown color with reddish or even orange tinges; a coppice is an area where trees have been cut down to stumps, often to encourage the growth of other plants or trees

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

America the Definitely Beautiful

 
Happy 4th of July 

Continental Divide in Colorado
from a few years ago

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise

 [posted in this month of Father's Day]

Immortal, invisible, God only wise, 
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes.
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, 
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise. 
Suburban Phoenix, AZ
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might. 
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above;
Thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love. 

To all life Thou givest, to both great and small; 
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all. 
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, 
And wither and perish; but naught changeth Thee.
Lake Tahoe, Nevada, USA
Great Father of glory, pure Father of light, 
Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight.
All praise we would render, O help us to see:
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
--Walter C. Smith, D.D., 1867  

Rev. Smith was born in Aberdeen Scotland in 1824.  He studied theology in Edinburgh and held several pastorates.  In 1876, he became a minister in the Free Kirk [Church] of Scotland. This is a conservative Presbyterian denomination that resisted merging with other Presbyterian groups in Scotland. 

This hymn is the only poetry of Smith's still in common usage.  It does not speak clearly to the central teaching of Christianity, Christ dying for humanity's sin. But its words inspire Christians enough to continue including it in hymnals.


Friday, November 1, 2024

All Things Bright & Beautiful

 
Refrain: 
All things bright and beautiful,  
 All creatures great and small, 
All things wise and wonderful, 
The Lord God made them all. 

Each little flow'r that opens,
Each little bird that sings, 
He made their glowing colors, 
He made their tiny wings. [Refrain]  
The purple-headed mountain 
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning 
That brightens up the sky. [Refrain]  
Pen & Ink, Paint 3D, Marie Byars art

The cold wind in the winter
The pleasant summer sun
The ripe fruits in the garden
He made them every one. [Refrain
cornucopia, colored pencil art, Dollar Tree coloring book
He gave us eyes to see them, 
And lips that we might tell 
How great is God Almighty, 
Who has made all things well. [Refrain]
-Cecil Frances Alexander, 1848 [female]

Saturday, July 1, 2023

Old Glory at Another National Park

 
Old Glory at Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

Take this link to discover past postings of the US flag in scenic places.  Happy 4th of July!

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Flag Day

 
  In honor of the U.S Commemoration of Flag Day on June 14th, here are some pictures of the U.S. flag taken in beautiful, mountainous Northern Arizona.  (Yes, Arizona).   
  Although the pictures were taken in the fall, they are excellent to ponder this Flag Day and any other patriotic day.





Monday, May 1, 2023

Waterfall

      These photos are from a hike into Zapata Falls in south central Colorado last year.  The waterfalls are in the Sangre de Cristo ("Blood of Christ") Range within the Rocky Mountains.  (For more on our trip there, see the post from October, 2020.)

      Some fresh translations from Psalm 42 add to the reflections.

Zapata Falls Colorado, Rocky Mountains, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Marie Byars photography
















7) Deep calls unto deep
At the noise of Your waterfalls; 
And all your waves and billows
Over me have passed.
8) In the daytime will Yahweh command His lovingkindness,
And in the night will his song be with me--
   a prayer to the God of my life...
11) Why, O my soul, are you cast down,
And why are you disquieted within me? 
Have hope in God,
For yet shall I praise Him,
The salvation of my expression [literally 'face']
And my God.    --Sons of Korah  




Notice how the falls spill from rocks high above.  Hikers are not allowed in that area.





    For fans of the Chronicles of Narnia, which are Christian allegories, waterfalls are in many stories.  C.S. Lewis' upbringing in parts of Ireland contributed to his depictions of Narnia.  I like occasionally mentioning Narnia in this blog because Lewis does such an amazing job describing the landscape.  It is part of the great joy of going to Narnia. The Hollywood productions (as Hollywood will do) focus so much on the great breathtaking near escapes that the amount of time just absorbing natural wonders is lost.
     Lewis does mentions a number of waterfalls throughout The Chronicles of Narnia. The most well-known is in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where the Beavers take the Pevensie children along the ravine below a waterfall in order to avoid being caught by the White Witch.  She traveled by sled and couldn't follow them down the narrow space. 
    The Great Waterfall is at the furthest western limit of Narnia.  Falling over spectacular cliffs into Cauldron Pool, it becomes the source of the Great River. 
    In the last book. The Last Battle, the trickster ape, Shift, lives near these falls.  He finds a lion skin in Cauldron Pool and tricks his foolish donkey friend, Puzzle, into wearing it and pretending to be Aslan, the Great Lion (the metaphor for Jesus).  This great hoax brings down Narnia.  

    At the end of Narnia, as the move into ever greater, more beautiful eternal Narnias, Aslan's dearest go UP the great waterfall, in a way they never could have done in their previous lives.  (Imagine climbing those!)  I could not find any artist renditions of the beloved going up the Narnian falls, so I will leave you with these final Zapata Falls photos.  My husband took these.  If you look close, you can see me in blue shirt with the giant straw hat, which I refer to as my "ugly potato farmer's hat."  (This is not to imply that potato farmers are ugly, only that my hat is.)  It has warded off skin cancer, though!  And then he took one of me closer up, getting the photos you saw above.  What a day it would have been if we COULD have ascended the falls!






Sunday, October 16, 2022

Autumn Glory

 
     Here are some photos from around northern Arizona this October.  Northern Arizona looks a lot different than some of you who have never visited this state might expect. This is going to be a bigger post, photographically.  It will also have a couple different 'takes' on autumn interspersed.
    There is also much more "human activity" in some of these pictures than what I typically include.  Some of this couldn't be helped in order to "get the shot."  But it's a reminder that, despite how radical environmentalists frame things, our world is a human-natural world cooperation.  To even enjoy it involves a human imposition. 

     After the flood, God gave Noah a rainbow.  Christians think of this mostly as a promise that God would not destroy the earth again by a flood.  There is also a promise that seasons will follow each other in order until the end of time:

"Through all the days of the earth,
Seedtime and Harvst,
Cold and Heat,
Summer and Winter, 
Day and Night 
Will not take rest [cease, pause, have a 'Sabbath']."  (Genesis 8:22)

San Francisco Peaks





Trees 🌳:

Arizona Walnut

"Quaking" Aspen, a type of poplar;
usually the leaves go golden, 
but soil conditions allow some as this
to go reddish


A Non-Native Maple 🍁

A Native, Western Maple 🍁

Basswood/Linden (?)
     When you're young, you often just admire Fall for the beautiful change of colors.  As time passes, you are more likely to have the haunting sense of 'death' arrive.  The leaves are actually dying.  While the deciduous trees aren't dying, their dormant state looks dead.  Even perceptive children will pick up on this, as in this poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, an English Jesuit priest:

Spring and Fall
to a young child

Márgarét, áre you gríeving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leáves like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! ás the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal* lie;
And yet you wíll weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It ís the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for. (1880)   

*Leafmeal, akin to "piecemeal"; term coined by Hopkins  

The Bible gives us hope in this, though.  Job, who was plagued by disaster and lived thousands of years before Christ was born, said in faith:

"For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And at the last [day], He shall stand upon the earth.
And after my skin is destroyed-- this,
And in my flesh shall I see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold,
And not a stranger. *
My heart yearns within me!"  (Job 19:25-27)

*this is more accurate to the Hebrew.  Martin Luther made a similar choice, translating it into German, using the word Fremder, "stranger."


Mountain🌄Hike 🚶‍♀️ 🚶‍♂️:

solitary aspen leaf 🍂

Aspens Interspersed with Blue Spruce and Douglas-Fir🌲
Conifer Seedling with Aspen Leaf

Rain 🌧🌦🌨off in the Distance

Sweeping Vista

The Pinnacle Humphreys Peak 🗻


"Aspen Corner"
part way down the mountain 


Flowers 🌸🏵🌼💐 :

I was frankly surprised to see this many flowers still blooming, especially the 'last' lupine and all the black-eyed Susans, especially considering how cool it was already getting. 

Purple False-Clover
pea family

White False-Clover and Yellow Clover
(why one is a true clover and the other is not seems some botanist's whim)


Yarrow 

Golden Aster 
composite (sunflower) 🌼 family

Native Snapdragon 

Cliff Rose 🌹
rose family (along with many common fruits
such as 🍎apple, plum, cherry 🍒,  peach 🍑)
[alongside purple coneflower]
Purple Aster
 composite family; sometimes called Michaelmas Daisy,
due to blooming around St. Michael's and All Angels Day, 29 September 

Maroon & Gold Mexican Hats, composite family
Yellow Mexican Hats
(purple asters among both types of Mexican Hats)


White Asters or Fleabane



Wooly Mullein (Lamb's Ear)

Lupine, much like Texas Bluebonnet
pea family (note pods below)
Purple Coneflower, non-native; composite family
Indian Blanket Flower (Firewheel), Composite Family
only somewhat native to this area;
more common on the southern parts of the Great Prarie;
there are several subspecies with slight color variations
My Favorite: Black-Eyed Susans
composite family
native to the Midwest, from Wisconsin to Texas
They have been seeded and naturalized to this one field in Flagstaff, AZ.Though I like living in the West, these are still a big favorite with me.

with ponderosa pines
with Indian blankets scattered in





A poem of mine on these flowers from August 2019