imagine

I want to take you to the place I was this morning.
my words won't do it justice, but since my essays aren't about photography or teleportation, I have little else to work with. my words, your imagination ~ some teamwork will need to occur.

there is a place where the stream flows quickly and with abandon, where pines intermingle with aspen and tall shrubs and every surface but the one you're riding on is covered with green growth. I inhale, and pine, strong sun-warmed and night-air-cooled pine fills my nose with its sharp, clean fragrance. I breathe in scents of wet loamy soil, of pungent greens I cannot name. wildflowers wave their happy heads on stalks that are full of life and strength, even now in early august when much of our land has given up its moisture and relegated plants to their dry, brown, seeding stage.
water gurgles and bubbles in flatter meadowlike places, and the foliage is incredibly thick: this spot is as close as utah can get to hawaii's lavish and riotous flora.
the air is still cool; it is close to seven am and there is a dampness to the air that along with the cool temperature tells me I am far from the valley floor. we have climbed a few thousand feet, and entered a foreign land, one that fills me with awe each time I visit.
the creek rushes, dribbles, floats lazily, and gushes, all at different times along our climb, and has spread itself over rocks, moss, tree branches and trunks, plants, and myriad other items I cannot name. august eighth, and water still pours down from above, signally to me the abundance of this incredible earth.
our ride culminates at just over 7600 feet, at an opening, a small meadow, where hiking and mountain biking trails take off. where God has said "here you are, receive my gift, use it gently and with love."
I wish you could have been there to drink it all in, to savor it, to bring those fragrances into your own being . . . I wish I could give you my experience in some sort of sensual "virtual reality," but until that technology exists I can only give you my words.
which I have now done.
breathe deep, and imagine, just for me, that the sharp scent of pine has just filled your senses, that the cool air surrounds and refreshes you, and that you are in the embrace of the top few miles of millcreek canyon.