Sunday in the Mountains

I spent yesterday with my roommate L., in the rocky mountains, in and around the tiny town of Banff.

The week and weekend were hard, and I badly needed a break from all that marks my current daily reality.

And yet, I'd wondered if the mountains would really be a better plan.

I fell in love with the mountains as a child. My dad taught me that God is deeply present in his creation. It's the lesson from him that I'm most grateful for. The mountains near my hometown have long been the place I've gone for freedom, for rest, for escape.


But this last year that's vanished a little, in the face of some challenging situations. The mountains have been very much a hard place to be, a place marked and defined by the struggles of the year. Sometimes still home to deep moments and healing, but very much bittersweet.

And so I set out to remind myself that this was the place I go to meet with God, to be restored. To be free, even if only for a few moments. I set out to take back some of the promises that have been mine since I was a child.

As I drove, we listened to worship music. We talked some, but mostly we listened and sang along. Church of sorts while sitting in George.

And Jesus spoke a little, in whispers, through the lyrics of some of the songs.

We'd borrowed my dad's very nice camera, and stopped at a number of spots along the way to take photos of creation, and of each other.

We laughed a lot.

We visited my favorite lake.



We shopped the main street of Banff, laughing and talking and looking at artwork.

We took photos everywhere we went. Just over 300 over the course of the day.

We visited the old and regal Banff Springs Hotel, had lunch in The Rundle Room, curled up in the antique furniture, near windows overlooking the terrace and Mount Rundle. We played more with the camera, and took cookbook quality photos of our lunch.




And then we went to the Hot Springs, and soaked tired bodies, while sitting in the pool with bits of snow still falling.

It was a good day. The much needed easing into freedom that I'd longed for. You can view some more of the pictures from the day here.

It was a good day, but re-entry into the reality of life proved far rougher than expected.

Within hours of arriving home, the realities that mark my life right now had come crashing in. The pain and the exhaustion and the tears. The longing for things that were, and things that are no longer. The realities of brokenness on so many levels.

It was an odd sort of dichotomy. A much needed day away, but a disconnect in returning. A surreal feeling. Like living two separate existences within the span of 24 hours