The Mountain.

Power in nature does not reside only in larger plants and animals. Lichens can cover huge rock faces that no other life form could hold on to and survive off the tiny fragments of dirt and rock they collect. Given enough time, grasses can push their way through asphalt and concrete. Ants invade homes despite every human effort to keep them out. These tenacious little fighters can remind you that every living being has the potential to take its stand and assert its right to exist and thrive. – Lundy Bancroft

The mountain. Standing. The mountain. Rooted. The mountain. Immovable.

The mountain. Its appearance can change with the turning of seasons. Leaves change and fall from trees, icicles cascade down boulders, flowers peep and bring forth fragrance, and grass grows tall.

At times it can be damaged by circumstances outside of its control. Fires. Some may be nature’s course. Some done by man. The fires can damage parts of the mountain.

Some fires may be necessary. Some fires offer no explanation.

Nevertheless, the mountain continues to stand. It trusts herself to continue to be a mountain. The mountain will weep as rain pours down causing streams to bubble and ponds to fill. The weeping is essential to bring forth life. Underneath the ashes, grass will arise. Flowers will surface. Creatures will make their way back. To water. To Vegetation. To Shelter. To Comfort.

The mountain provides. In the crevices of the valleys and the clefts in the bluffs, it provides shelter for the vulnerable. It can offer protection from storms. Predators. Heat. Hail. Extreme wind.

No matter, it remains a mountain. Tall. Glorious. Stable. Poised. Strong. Dependable.

Last weekend, as I was lying in my hammock on the bluff at Goat’s Trail - the Buffalo River below me, a mountain in front me - I imagined that I was the mountain. Strong. Dependable. Grounded.