Words From My Yosemite Video

This is where it began.  In the snow.  My journey through Yosemite began here.  And this is where the next journey begins.

I grew up in the woods and on the lakes of Wisconsin, reading the words of John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Sigurd Olson.  Then I moved to a large city in California and lost touch with the outdoors. 

When a friend took me to Yosemite, I discovered the place that John Muir describes in his books, and I was stunned by what I saw.  I return to Yosemite whenever I can to be renewed by the fresh air, the openness of the mountains, and the quiet sounds of hiking through undisturbed forests. 

I sit by the rivers and listen to the surging water, watch deer and coyotes play in the meadows, look for owls, hawks, and ravens in the sky.  Often I see bears as I hike along the trails, and sometimes I think I glimpse mountain lions moving through the shadows.

Yosemite inspires me with the power of its waterfalls, the great granite domes, and the giant sequoias.  Sunrise and sunset often fill the sky with yellow, orange, and red.  From the warm, green fullness of summer and the cool brown days of autumn to the quiet trickling of snow-clad rivers in winter, each season holds its own beauty.

When I am in nature, the rush of daily life slows.  I have time to think about life back home and work through its complications.  By camping, I develop a relationship with Yosemite. I learn to hear its many voices.  Often I feel awe as I hike the trails between the great vistas, and sometimes I feel fear, for this is still the wilderness.

When I look over the valley as a winter storm clears, light brightens on the horizon.  Mist rises from the dark green forest, drawing me from the visible world into what is hidden within.

(These are the words to the video I posted on YouTube.  The video uses photographs I took in Yosemite and wonderful music by Lindsay Adler.  You can go to YouTube, type in “Liebenow Yosemite” and the video will come up, or use this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YU61Cy2lio . There are two versions – one has the words in captions, the other does not.)