My Mountain . . .

This is my mountain, Mt. Rainier. I don't know when I started calling it my mountain but I think it started when I moved away from Washington 7 years ago. To me, this mountain represents everything that I love about Washington, my true home. Everytime I see it now I am in awe of its beauty. When I lived in Washington I saw it all the time and I think I started to take advantage of it's beauty and not even notice it as much. I am sure that many others that see it all the time do the same thing. How could we not notice something this beautiful? I guess I was used to seeing it all the time and it was just part of the scenery. I didn't realize that this type of beauty isn't everywhere and I also didn't think that I would not get to see it on every sunny day because I lived somewhere else. I thought that mountain would always be there for me to see. On a sunny day the mountain was always off in the distance. In the morning the sun rises behind it and turns the mountain into a gorgeous shade of purple and orange and in the evening the sun sets and casts beautiful hues all over it. Each sunrise and sunset is different and all are breath taking. Now it is the first thing that I look for when I am on the plane heading into Washington. Each time I catch a glimse of it it brings me to tears because I realize I am almost home. Now this mountain represnts more than a mountain, it now represents home. Each time I leave Washington it is usually the last thing I see on the airplane and it always brings me to tears because I know that I am leaving and that always breaks my heart. I would have thought it would get easier to leave each time but it is getting harder and harder with each goodbye because that is where my heart wants to be.

I took these on the plane as I was heading back to TX.