Stream of Consciousness

Very tired today, but happily staying in a United Methodist Church in Lander, WY on the Fourth of July.  I've been humbled by how gracious churches have been to take us in from KY, MO, KS and now WY and I've wondered if I would be as hospitable if roles were reversed.  I hope so.  In Lander, they take the Fourth of July very seriously.  Fireworks have been occurring ever since we arrived in town around 5:00 and now explosions surround us.  Reverend Mark Calhoun, the pastor here, assures us that there will be fireworks going on well past midnight.  We're glad we're not camping.

As I've pedaled across this great country of ours I have remembered the words of Jody Foster in her role as a scientist in the movie "Contact."  She is transported through space and has an experience of another world which she has difficulty describing.  She says, "They should have sent a poet," instead of a scientist.  That's how I feel as I take in the Ozark mountains, Kansas prairies, Colorado Rockies, and Wyoming wilderness.  My stock in trade is telling stories, but I need poetry to describe the landscapes I have witnessed.

The best I can do is to recall the opening song of the old TV show, "Green Acres."  "Land spreading out so far and wide . . ."  Sorry, that just doesn't do it justice.

I feel small in these landscapes.  Roads stretch before me . . . towns come into view five or six miles before I pass through them.  Mountains loom on the horizon . . . a reminder of climbs yet to come as I pass through these expansive valleys of the west.  Colors change around every bend.  Landscape surprises us after every rise.  I've always thought NC was the most beautiful of states, but I see that there are different kinds of beauty in God's creation.  And I think I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves...