This morning I took Las Flores Canyon Road up to the ridge. The ride was gorgeous. Twisking roads going up my hands flying on the wheel back and forth and back and forth and the views of the rocks and the chaparral - just what I needed. Going to a high place, stopping and enjoying the view and then the ride down.
I realized that I like climbing to the peak and part of that experience is being at the top - although you are at the top just for a moment. A moment to savor the view, to breath the crisp air.
When I drive these roads I always feel a pang because I don't live on them. I don't live in these mountains with these views as my daily views. But in reality these are my daily views. The tiny moments I experience on these roads, seeing these hills is something I experience every day. No body can own these views or all these mountains. So why should I want to? I have the freedom to experience these roads, this landscape every day. There are many roads and I can take any of them that I want. I am not limited to the freeway or Malibu Canyon. I experience the climbing rush up the canyon, the cool moistness from the trees, the brisk wind up top and the sun warming my back as it burns off the purple haze in the valley.
A moment of inspiration and then the return to invincibility and the path down the mountain. It's just as exciting looking up around you, seeing the mountains and knowing you were up there. Remembering the view.
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