Hollie Reid Open Topic #3

I grew up in the mountains. They just aren’t exciting anymore. After about my 2^nd winter driving up and down a dangerous winding road in the snow and ice just so I could go to school (because naturally all the snow and ice had melted in the entire rest of the county, as always), it got old. Sure, I think they are beautiful. I have a great view from the deck of my house and have a hundred pictures of the sunrise. I also like taking pictures from in the woods when all tree branches are covered in ice and snow. The leaves are really pretty when they change colors. I feel like I'm in a rainforest in the summer with everything such a vibrant green. But what I really like is the ocean. I love to sit on the sand and listen to the ocean and watch the rhythmic roll of the waves as they crash onto the shore. It's so calming. I could sit on the beach for hours with nothing to entertain me but the ocean. It's so majestic and massive. It's dangerous. It's encompassing. I moved down to the outer banks last summer to get closer to it. I listened to it when I fell asleep at night. When I got off work, it was always there waiting, almost like a puppy. You can't cuddle with the ocean like you can with a puppy though. Surprisingly, the ocean brought back the magic of the mountains though. When I went home after school started, I had forgotten the beauty of the mountains. I think it is interesting that you can miss something without realizing it until you are brought into its presence again. Moving away from home has unintentionally given me a new appreciation for the surroundings I had taken for granted for so many years. It exactly like Lane's third axiom. A sacred place can be tred upon without being entered. I had been in a sacred place for so long that I had to leave it in order to experience it again.