Category: God’s Beauty

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The Beating Heart of Arches NP

My previous video mixed travel blog with a bit of theology.

Between Worlds, Double Arches

We are still in the Windows Section of Arches National Park. Most consider this the “beating heart” of the entire park. I hope the video below will inspire you to take the time to visit our amazing national treasures. And enjoy God’s Beautiful Bi-Natured World.

In the words of Frank Bethwick, leader of a 1933-34 scientific expedition, “These arches are of thrilling beauty. Caused by the cutting action of wind-blown sand (not stream erosion), one marvels at the intricacies of nature.” This section of the park offers both beauty and variety—hiking, sightseeing, stargazing, photography, and enjoyment for the whole family.

Source: nps.gov
Some Geology
(Click to see full image)

Highlighted first in the video is the Turret Arch and then I take a leisurely stroll around The Windows.

Turret Arch & The Windows
by blueridgemountain_man

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The Song of the Lark

Once heralded by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt as “America’s Best Loved Picture,” this painting by Jules Adolphe Breton (1884) made the cover of Willa Cather’s novel of the same name.

Many decades later, the sight of a peasant woman in a field at sunrise also inspired a young struggling actor, Bill Murray, to keep moving forward.

[Click for full image]

The Song of the Lark, 1884
Jules Adolphe Breton
CC0 Public Domain Designation
Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago
Cover of Willa Cather’s novel, 1915
From the first edition

More about the artist and the painting at The Art Institute of Chicago.

Eurasian Skylark

Get up and go listen.

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Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm

(Click on image for full view)

Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm, 1869
Albert Bierstadt
Courtesy of The National Gallery of Art
Overview

By 1869, when he created this idyllic view, Albert Bierstadt had made two extensive trips to the American West. He based this lush scene of buffalo peacefully making their way across a river or creek against a roiling sky on views he had sketched during one or both of those expeditions. In a letter he wrote on September 3, 1859 during his excursion with the survey team of US Army Colonel Frederick W. Lander, the artist describes one such scene. He recorded his awe at encountering the majestic buffalo in a passage that could easily describe Buffalo Trail: Impending Storm:

We find here plenty of buffalo. One morning we saw a noble looking animal crossing the river near us, and I alighted from my ambulance and took a position behind a bluff, in order to give him a reception. As he came splashing through the water, I felt half inclined to lay down my rifle and take up my sketchbook, but I was so wrapped in admiration and study I could do neither for a few moments. 

Bierstadt’s meticulous attention to detail and texture, as well as his tightly brushed technique—results of his early training in Düsseldorf, Germany—characterize this bucolic, romantic scene.

Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art

Air Bellows Gap
Blue Ridge Parkway
blueridgemountain_man

God created a beautiful world for us to enjoy. So get out there and enjoy it!