~* "Sense" - sational Sunday *~ (Monday edition!)

This is the I-am-posting-this-on-Monday-because-I-was-in-North-Conway-all-day-yesterday-and-sat-in-almost-four-hours-of-traffic-coming-home-so-I-didn't-feel-like-posting version!!!

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Each week on GLU we try to post about observing our world through our senses. I am trying to remember to post it here, too. Here is this week's list.

I see: I want to talk about what I saw yesterday: brilliant sunshine against blue skies with fluffy white clouds, majestic mountains, towering trees, crystal clear rambling rivers, just the beauty of nature all around. I love the White Mountains area of NH. Love it! It is only about two hours from us (we hit a rain storm heading home, thus the four hour mess!) so we go fairly often. We have a typical route we follow. Usually we head up 93 to Lincoln and Woodstock, explore our favorite areas there, then get on to the Kancamagus Highway (a national scenic by-way) and follow it the 34 miles to North Conway. then we poke around all of our favorite areas there. When it is time to head home we follow Rt. 16 south to 95. Yesterday we got a bit of a late start and decided to just go straight to N. Conway. I was just happy to go. At some point this summer we are spending a long weekend up there in our friend Ed and Renee's condo, but some remodeling projects they are working on fell behind so we are not sure when we will get to go.

I hear: In the White Mountains, it is the sounds of nature all around. My favorite of those is the rivers. The Pemigiwasset, the Saco, it doesn't matter (there are many!). I just love to hear the water rush over the rocks and down waterfalls. The rivers are so alive, constantly in liquid motion. And they sparkle! Oh do they sparkle!!! We didn't swim yesterday, which bummed me out, because even though the water is f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g it is so refreshing and sooooo clean. 

Kevin and Bailey hanging out in back of the Explorer after enjoying pizza (Bailey gets the crust!) North Conway NH, 7.27.08

I taste: Elvio's Pizza!!! One of my favorite pizzas and we have to go all the way to North Conway to get it, of course. Crazy that in the middle of the north woods you can get authentic, hand-tossed, thin crust pizza!

I smell: Nothing! The air is so clean up there. No smog, no pollution, no car exhaust, or any of that junk we breathe in in the city. Well, actually I shouldn't say I smell nothing. You smell the pine trees, the leaves, the flowers, the earth...refreshing, uplifting. As soon as I get there the first thing I do is just breathe. Breathe deep and soak it all in.

I touch: Trees and boulders and sticks and leaves. I can't get enough of this stuff when I am in the mountains. At home I usually can't be bothered but get me in the mountains and I want to feel everything the earth has to offer.

I feel: Sooooo happy that we went up yesterday!!! Time in the mountains is so good for the soul. 

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Now, lest you think I went and got all new-agey and spiritual in one little day trip, I must confess I wasn't all nature girl yesterday. I did shop. Oh yes, I shopped! North Conway is not just known for its natural beauty...it is known for shopping!!! So, yeah, I shopped!

Just a little novelty I picked up in a N. Conway gift shop!!! :-)

The picture above (Kevin and Bailey in the Explorer) is one of the few I took yesterday. I know...bad! Especially for me. But I have been there so many times throughout my life that I sometimes don't think to pull out the camera. I have probably hundreds of pictures of the area. I will have to upload some soon to share. There are so many great websites of the area, too, if you want to learn more. A simple photograph hardly does its beauty justice, though.

But if all of my nature talk has you just longing to soak some in, too, here is a shot I took today when Kevin, Bailey, and I took a walk at Breakheart Reservation in Saugus, near our home. So crazy that  you get off the highway and come in to this little piece of natural beauty in the middle of the city!!!

Kevin & Bailey walking Breakheart, 7.28.08