The Sierra Nevadas...A Beautiful Gift of Thanks

Thanksgiving has just been celebrated in the United States of America...

I am no longer there...no longer have my family, with it, to share...

Thanksgivings, of my past, were all about family...

Were about the blessings we have been given...

And, the blessing, to come together as family...

I am my family now, yes, I still do have some family, dear cousins...

But, all live their own lives and I mine...

So, yesterday, I shared the time with myself...

Remembering times past, with my family, my parents, my sons, my husband...

All the beautiful joy that we once shared together...

I listened to music to reminice...

One song in particular, caught my heart...

I was singing along with the song, Sierra, by Boz Scaggs...

I was also thinking of how much I loved those mountains, the Sierra Nevadas, of California...

Then, I suddenly began to watch the video...

Seeing the images of these majestic mountains...

Poured forth...tears...

Tears for many reasons...

Tears of remembrance...

Tears of joy...

Tears of sadness...

Tears of thankfulness...

I have been blessed you see...to have been born in California...

Although, I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sierras, were a big part of my life...

My father would rent a cabin in the wintertime...

So that we could enjoy all the winter delights...

We would also, go in the summers to camp...

As a young adult, ski trips with friends...

I would even just go all alone...to be with the exquisite silence, the mirror like lakes, and the gorgeous grandeur of the trees...

One of my favorite sounds of the Sierras, was hearing the leaves of the ash trees gently stirring when a breeze came up...

I worked for the Special Olympics and every winter we would take a group of "special" athletes to have our "Winter Games..."

When I began my family...

We took many a trip to the Sierras, to the beauty of the Sierras...

Alas, one day, we bought a house, at the foothills of the mountains...

Every morning that I awoke...I awoke to the splendor and majesty to the sight of...The Sierra Nevadas...

Glorious...each morning was a new and glorious morn...

I would give thanks, no matter, the temperature, on my special bench outside...

My boys and I would pop in the car and take day trips...

Especially, for fresh mountain apples...!

To go swim and play in the icy rivers...

To simply go and enjoy what a gift we had at our door step...

The beautiful gift of the Sierra Nevada Mountains...

I am not certain that I will ever see these mountains again...

But, this I do know...

That they are forever engraved upon my heart and upon my soul...

The memories...the beauty...the splendor...

Thank you my lovely, lovely Sierra Nevadas...

Musical Selection: "Sierra," by Boz Scaggs

Enjoy!!!

All my love, 

Maria Joan Juarez Hidalgo Beam (Boheme)