Thoughts From a Drive Around Mount Olympus

I love that feeling when a cloud drapes over the top of a mountain, hugging its peak. It is as though a looming mountain is not enough to grab my awe, it is not enough to intimidate my very core and leave me feeling both empty and full. The beauty of that looming cloud and the uncertainty of what is beyond the the next curve. Pictures and videos can never fully convey the feeling.

The feeling when I follow the curve of a road up, around a mountain and then down and back. The mountain face covered in nets with trees and bushes growing through. A jagged white line breaks with the ditch on the side of the road. The trees break and I catch a view that stops my breath and gives my heart reason for pause.

It is these moments that I cannot believe anything but an omnipotent God could possibly create the world we live in. I cannot believe any of this just happened, a force of natures desire to simply exist. No, it has to be a creative God, carving out beauty for us to enjoy in our pain and in our joy.

The road bends and winds, drawing me closer and closer to the ocean. Trees loom over head, towering over bushes that line the narrow road. Sun filters through and the air gets cooler. The crisp smell of the Pacific Ocean fills my lungs as the wind blows through the window into my face. A mountain wall rises and falls. The sky is above me, then blocked again by trees.

The road rises slightly and drops. Another view takes my breath, this time a straight road, lined with trees forever.

Every now and then we pass a small town. It reminds me of the winter I drove down the Oregon coast during a rainstorm, but without the rain. Almost like the summer I lived in New York for an internship.

Through the trees, I see slight glimpses of the beating ocean, waves crashing against the shoreline.

I hold my breath as the next curve brings us parallel with the ocean, just off a sharp cliff. Pulled over. Out of the car. Walking first, down the steep trail to the ocean. It bends back and forth testing my patience. Six months I have waited to see the ocean again. Two years I have waited to live by the Ocean that has brought me Peace so many times. My stride grows longer, my worn out Rainbows cringe – I can feel the rocks beneath the worn soles in the heel. I am almost running. I do not care what those by me think. I may never see them again. I run up to the ocean. I am standing toe to wave tip with the ocean. I bend down, and let the tip of the next wave slide over my hand. I stand to take a picture and my phone dies, reminding me to just enjoy the moment.