Mountains may be the waving of the earths crust to the rest of the heavens as if to say hello. Just like the waves, mountains can fold, fault, and become residual, and like Tsunamis, for miles and miles around, volcanoes blow up and drown everything in sight inside their ashes. The majesty of the mountains has inspired myths to be created around them; Mount Meru in the center of the Himalayas was thought to be the axis of the universe as Mount Olympus was where Zeus resided. Hindus and Buddhists believed in the divinity of the mountains and assigned each one to be a home to a god. As well as serving as residences to gods and being the sites of sacred revelations, mountains are also regarded as portals to the underworld. In Icelandic folklore, the Christian priests who took on the role of mythic heroes were able to open these portals. Mountains are also thought of being inhabited by supernatural beings, some of them demons, who send climbers to their deaths. Even today, some consider Mount Hood as the operating center of an alien race and Mount Shasta to be the home of an old race that dwelled in Atlantis. This may be because a mountain seems to have a personality. A mountain can be fickle; a mountain has moods. One never knows when a temper tantrum will strike. A seemingly safe rock with holds, nicks and crannies for the mountaineering gear suddenly will turn slippery with ice; the overhangs on ridges will abruptly break apart sending down stones over once passable routes; a gray mysterious fog will stick to breathing passages; hail and lightning will batter the eyes, faces of everyone and anything else in sight; the word avalanche will make the climber tremble with fear, for it will maroon people and villages for days at an end. What has roots as nobody sees, is taller than trees, and up, up it goes; yet, never grows? The answer to this riddle is a mountain. Yet, mountains do grow and move around with the help of earthquakes as plate tectonics dictate. My farthest memories of mountains are of the Alps, though at first--not of snow and solitude--but of patchwork of fields surrounding quiet villages, small churches, simple doll houses shouldering steep roofs, freshly mowed hay draped in piles over cylindrical racks to dry and me, as a child, feeling like Heidi among the goats; then, also, the earth rising to the sun with a dynamic authority; steep, craggy, brown, black, and purple heights breaking the ground with touches of green toward the peaks; and pine forests at the skirts of the mountains. Only later on, I finally witnessed the white caps, snowy shoulders, and white wondrous splendor of solitude during our early spring and late winter visits. Alps do not span a large area. They could fit inside two East Coast US states such as Virginia and Maryland, but as far as mountains go, Alps are rebellious, frozen, wild youngsters who havent lost their sharp edges. They are also the spoiled brats of history with riches of legend, romance, and majesty. In a strange way, to live and work among the mountains offers a linkage to nature. If one has debts to be paid and a mortgage to be settled, mountains are around for comfort, encouraging the occupants on them to enjoy a hearth and home decorated with Alpine rose, edelweiss, gentian, and anything else that may grow at the foothills or inside the snow. A mountain dweller wakes up in the morning and lifts his eyes and soul to the primeval majesty of high peaks, to watch the plethora of green fir and to go after the timber to be gathered. Wood is put to good use among the mountain people. Tools and utensils, carriages, carts, blades and axle for waterwheels, homes, sheds, weaving gear, cuckoo clocks, are usually made of wood. The seasons on mountains do not depend on the time of the year as much as they do on the altitude. The higher one climbs the colder and the lonelier it gets. Soon, the tree line vanishes and rock, ice, and snow are left for the majestic mountains to hold their windy heads inside the clouds. While most any place is losing its battle to an uncivilized civilization, inside and around Alpine forests, there are nature preserves where the flora and fauna remain undisturbed. Each spring, people hike on or around the mountain valleys. They observe the treasury of insect and plant life and the roots of birch trees grab a boulder, listen to the warblers and finches songs mix in with the hoarse croak of the vultures, and once in a while, step aside to make way for a red deer and its fawn on a green meadow. These delicate discoveries and the mountain's dignity in solitude can provide a deep sense of content for anyone who sets his eyes on any mountain. |
