I like this nickel.
It came out a few years ago as part of the Westward Journey Commemorate Nickel Series in honor of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. It's a view of the West Coast with giant majestic pines, a rocky coastline, the waves... but more than that I love the quote from Capitan Clark's journal:
Ocean in view! O! The joy!
So simple (and full of exclamation points) and yet it conveys so much emotion. It's like a gasp of breath in utter awe. I see him frozen, braced against the nearest tree trunk, overwhelmed by the sheer beauty, magnitude and the magic of having finally arrived.
The truth is, I identify with this emotion because I tend to view my own life as some sort of journey. Sometimes I am content to walk along my path watching the sun come up and down on each day... with equanimity. But many other times I have an on-going inner itch. Those are the days when I need a goal, a pull... when I feel that I'm not there yet. When I'm not even sure where there is and I have a sort of gnawing for unknowable meaning, for struggle. And along with the journey and the struggle, I hunger for the feeling of arrival. I hunger for place. I hunger for the sensation of resting my hand on a pine tree at the top of the hill and (O!...) looking out at the vast and mighty ocean.
The Hills and the Sea Torimbia, Asturias
2 comments:
Just stopping by to say hi!!
You and Marcos are such a nice couple!. Nice to see your own perspective...
Blogs are the new survival method to find some interesting people around the globe for "homeless" like me.
Take care, guys!
Thanks Javi!
Yeah, the blog world is helping me feel rooted, even though it's in cyberspace. There is definitely something comforting in knowing that I can come 'here' from anywhere in the world.
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