Thankfulness 2013, Part Five: Place

[kidsmoke]

Today's thankfulness meditation asks you to name a single place that echoes in your heart and mind. This one is "difficult" for me only because I have deep love for so many different locations on this earth, and it's hard to select just one! But I'm going with one that just popped into my mind from the sweet mists of memory...

 

The wild, rough west country of England, with its narrow lanes and full rainbows across the enormous sky, its ancient cliffs plunging down to cold hard surf, its empty, brooding beaches, its wide-flung fields under shifting skies. Somehow I don't think I've ever felt as free as I did there. If you ever get the chance, rent a car and go explore this amazing part of our world. Parts of it felt as though I was standing in the midst of the birth of the world. So few people, and such a timeless, almost prehistoric beauty.

 

Tell us about a place of your heart.

[Doug C]

This one is also the most difficult for me, Donna (oh boy, I hope it's Donna!). Travel is my favorite thing, thanks mom and dad!, and I have been to many beautiful, wonderful and amazing places. To choose one... aye, yi, yi.

 

The Dordogne River Valley, particularly around Beynac and Sarlat, in southwest France is magical. Medieval villages sculpted into the rock, castles, farmland, lazy canoeing and not too touristy (well at least not in 1999). I'll never forget my wife's "ooh aah" awestruck reaction on the train from Paris to Sarlat when we passed Beynac and it's castle hanging from the cliffs above the river. She did not know that we were just picking up the rental car in Sarlat and staying in Beynac. When I told her that we were staying in that little village, her reaction was even better. The medieval beauty of Beynac and Sarlat, the canoe trip down the Dordogne with postcard France passing by, etc. was excellent but what I am most thankful for is the Grotte de Font-de-Gaume. It is one of the few, now maybe only, caves with polychrome paintings open to the public. Back then only 200 people a day, by reservation only, were allowed in. The paintings date from 17,000 B.C. and are of bison, horses and mammoth(s?). We were overcome with an eerie peacefulness and a somewhat shameful, though honored, sense of privilege while walking that guided 100 yards. Imagining those red and black paintings being created so long ago by our ancestors, trying to envision what they had seen, thinking about their lives, thanking them for being driven by our primal urge to tell stories and make our mark... we could almost see them.

 

I have been fortunate to experience many special places in my life but I am most thankful for Font-de-Gaume. The days of publicly accessible cave paintings are numbered. The reverence I felt being connected to the original human experience was pure joy.

[Magnetized]

I've been to other places that are more naturally beautiful, historically significant, or otherwise more "important", but right now what I think of as my surefire happy place is North Adams, Massachusetts. I can't think of anywhere in recent memory that I associate with so many good feelings as that town. I've been there for all three Solid Sound festivals and even went to the benefit concert in 2012, and I think every trip has been better than the last. Wilco is the main attraction, of course, but the awesome Mass MoCA and the friendly, welcoming people of the town are all part of the experience. The last hour of the drive there is just gorgeous, and the anticipation for the weekend builds as you're climbing the mountains and making those hairpin turns. I won't go on and on--there are lots of rhapsodic posts in the Solid Sound threads that say the same thing I'm saying--but I really hope Wilco sticks with Mass MoCA and North Adams for Solid Sound. I love the ritualistic aspect of returning to the same place for a great weekend every year. Or every other year, even.

[Jcamp]

A tour of 17,000 B.C. Petroglyphs by canoe in France ! That's an amazing trip off the beaten path for sure. Just Incredible ..

 

I agree, though, North Adams was great. And the last hour of a 14 hour drive certainly was rewarding. Looking forward to the next time!

 

My favorite drive is through West Marin Co. CA.

Westbound from Fairfax to Mill Valley you will pass thru Samuel P. Taylor St. Park,  Golden Gate Nat'l Rec. Area,  Mount Tamalpias State Park and Muir Woods Nat'l Monument.

 

Having grown up in the flat and perpendicular grid of the Midwest, the first time I drove over the Golden Gate Bridge onto what seemed like Hwy 101 Roller Coaster was  soo   much   Fun!!

[gogo]

I might be expelled from San Francisco for saying this, but I love New York City.  This time of year, I'd love to be in a chilly place, wandering the streets, absorbing all that energy.

[theashtraysays]

The place I'm most thankful for is our very own back deck.  We screened in a big section of it several years back.  It's right off the kitchen, and about 12 feet off the ground.  It has this huge old tulip poplar tree just behind it, and big pine trees on one side.  It's like being in a treehouse.  We have a porch swing, a couple chairs, and a table and chairs for eating.  It's a sanctuary away from the rest of the house.  My wife and I can go there after work and decompress and catch up.  It's perfect for a Sunday afternoon nap on the swing.  When spring finally comes around, it's the first place we want to go when it gets warm enough.  It's the best part of the house, and it's the place I want to go to after a long trip away.  I'm really thankful that we were able to have the money to do it back in the days when things were booming.  It seemed like a lot of money at the time, but it's been the best thing we ever spent money on...

[kidsmoke]

I love reading these. Doug, what a story! (And yes, I'm Donna) You make me want to schedule a trip right now to the Dordogne River Valley!  And of course, Diane, you know how much I love North Adams. I considered that being my "place" when I started this thread, but I remember England's west coast and that won out.

 

Joe, I was just through that area in October. Wish I had had more time to get out and wander & explore, but we were just shooting up quickly to Santa Rosa for a family wedding. But one of my fondest memories from my twenties is a picnic on Mt. Tam. All that beauty!

 

Maudie, NYC just has that special sumthin, doesn't it? Like nowhere else on earth.

 

Vince, your deck sounds like heaven on earth!

[anthony]

T-Street

[Guest Don Draper]

Hovland, Minnesota.  My family has a cabin there, and sitting on the shores of Lake Superior alone early on a summer morning is a solace unlike any I've ever experienced. 

[Fritz]

My home.

 

It's such a busy time for me right now - Christmas shows to play at numerous schools but when I return home to my family in our house amongst the trees (we're high up off the road in a tree-filled suburb of Sydney) I feel like I am exactly where I am meant to be.

 

It's bliss.

[The Inside of Outside]

Pleasant Lake in Casco, Maine. We have a summer house on the lake, co-owned by my parents and 5 (middle-aged) kids. I am the youngest of the group, and I live closest to Casco (by some 10 hours over the next nearest sibling). So I get to take care of the house. And I get to spend the most time there. It's heaven.