immensity

 Back from the wedding/family reunion in Whitefish, Montana. The trip was full of memorable moments, but, honestly, the highlight was a trip we took to the eastern side of Glacier National Park. We headed east along the Flathead River along the border of the park until we encountered the great plains on the eastern side, running through Browning up to Babb and into the Park, ultimately at Many Glacier. 

The overriding feeling during this trip was one of immensity, certainly expressed in the colossal peaks of the Rocky Mountains to be found there.

When we were driving through the plains, I happened to stop and step outside of the car for just a moment. There was this same sense of immensity, except there was nothing visible on which to attribute this feeling, just the sound of the wind as it blew through eternity. 

I didn't take this photo(Wikiwand), but you get the idea. In his poem The Snowman, Wallace Stevens says,

...and not to think

of any misery in the sound of the wind.

In the sound of a few leaves.

Which is the sound of the land

Full of the same wind

That is blowing in the same bare place...

I remembered visiting Ryoanji and its zen gardens in Kyoto, Japan many years ago. When we were there, I remember my zen Teacher saying to me that there are some places that help to knit the world together. Certainly this corner of northwestern Montana is one of those places. It's no coincidence that the Blackfoot nation picked this area as their ancestral home. There is great power and sustenance there. Thanks to Russ and my sister Ellen for suggesting that we take this trip to an amazing part of our world.