Monday, June 7, 2010

Gratitude Monday -- Reflective Edition

Waterfowl Lake, Banff National Park
Still lakes in the early morning offer grand reflections of their surroundings. On Saturday we were up and away early enough to catch this sight on Waterfowl Lake.
It's moments like this that make me as reflective as the still waters. I am grateful for many things, including how close I live to the Jasper-Banff Highway.
This road, also known as the Columbia Icefields Parkway, runs through Jasper and Banff National Parks and offers the most stunning mountain scenery in the world. I can be in Jasper, Banff, or Lake Louise in a few hours, or I can drive along the highway for the sheer joy of seeing the sights and still be home in the evening.
What sights are you grateful for?


29 comments:

the Bag Lady said...

This is a stunning shot, cousin! You are very lucky to be able to go to the mountains on a whim!

I am grateful for sight, period. There is so much to see, and I'm grateful for all of it!

the Bag Lady said...

Oh, and I love the woodchuck in your header!

Leah J. Utas said...

dfBag Lady, thanks. Yes, sight is wonderful.
I'm glad you like the woodchuck. I have only seen them twice in all the years I've lived here.

messymimi said...

The Bag Lady is right about that being a stunning shot, and about the gift of sight.

My Sweetie was born with eye problems that could have left him blind, and that still could blind him someday. It drives home how wonderful it is to be able to gaze into the eyes of our children, or watch them swim in the vast Gulf, or stand with them in awe at the sunset.

Leah J. Utas said...

Messymimi, good point. We should never take our physical senses for granted.
Thanks.

Writing Without Periods! said...

I want to go there. Lovely.
Mary

Redbush said...

These have always been my favourite pictures to take. Lovely photos! I'm grateful for having places like this to paint.

Leah J. Utas said...

Mary, you won't regret a trip to the Canadian Rockies.

Thanks, Redbush. I think they're an endless source of inspiration.

Hilary said...

Wow.. that's an amazing setting.. the kind of place you absorb with all senses.

Barbara Martin said...

Great photo, Leah, with all my favourite elements: mist, mountains, snow, lake, reflections and thousands of acres of evergreens. I have a couple of misty mountain photos coming up. You must be psychic!

Leah J. Utas said...

Hilary, it was an amazing sight.

Barbara, thanks. Mountain pics are the best.

Cheryl Kohan said...

I want to go there, too! Oh my goodness, that is majesty personified!

I truly do want to visit up your way and I think as soon as I post this comment I'm going to go harass Jack...we just HAVE to get a passport.

It's something we've been meaning to do FOREVER and life just keeps getting in the way! Well, at this rate, life will be long gone - ha!

Leah J. Utas said...

Thanks, Cheryl. Don't wait too long.

LadyFi said...

What a breath-taking sight! I'm grateful for sights like this one - and for the sight of my kids laughing.

Paul C said...

This is a wonderful shot with a shower in the distance and the great clarity all around.

Leah J. Utas said...

Thank you, LadyFi.

PaulC, thanks. I was blessed to come upon this scene.

Cricket said...

Beautiful mountains. I'm also fond of sunrises and sunsets, but the sight I'm most grateful for is two little boys sleeping... they're always my little angels then.

Congratulations on the potw.

Frank Baron said...

Very nice shot, Leah. Water is the very stuff of life and I can't stay away from it for long. All my favourite vistas seem to involve it in some way: mist, streams, ponds, lakes, oceans.

I was privileged to pass your way many years ago and easily recall the stunning beauty that surrounds you. That beauty is a gift - but an even greater one is your appreciation of it. May it never dim.

Daryl said...

I am grateful that Hilary read your post and added it to her POTD list! Congrats!

Leah J. Utas said...

Cricket, thanks. You have a good perspective on what is important.

Frank, I understand. I have to be neat it at times, too. I hope I never get to the point of taking anything in nature for granted, or any of my senses.

Thanks, Daryl.

Karen said...

Hi, hopped over from Hilary's blog. That is a wonderful picture. How blessed to live close to see that all the time! Have a great day.

Pauline said...

wonderful picture! good that you take the time to appreciate the beauty that surrounds you

Joanna Jenkins said...

Your photo took my breath away-- I wanted to drink in the freshness and the beauty.

Congratulations on the POTW-- It's well deserved.

jj

Leah J. Utas said...

Karen, Pauline, and Joanna, thank you very much.

Cheryl Kohan said...

Well, I'll be darned...I haven't read Hilary's post, yet, so didn't know about the POTW award. Many congratulations to you!! Now I've got to go see who else is on the list. I'll be busy for awhile :-)

Leah J. Utas said...

Thank you, CherylK.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!! It is hard to find any place more beautiful than the Canadian Rockies.
I can't say I have been to Waterfowl Lake, but I have happy childhood memories of the ice fields and Banff National Park. Lake Louise is so beautiful it nearly makes me cry. Is the teahouse still there at the end of the trail?

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

PS: Congrats on a well-deserved POTW!

Leah J. Utas said...

Kcinnova, thanks so much.The Canadian Rockies are my favourite. I've never been to the Lake Louise tea house. There's a trail leading to one, though, if that's what you're referring to.