The Merced River ©Sascha Darlington
For Haibun Monday at dVerse. To join in, visit here.
To Yosemite
Heat rises from Fresno’s flat roads in steamy waves. After the chill of San Francisco, heat embraces, welcome. I watch the vista unfold as the car begins the arduous climb. From groves where orange baubles fall, to pine laden hillsides where the temperature descends, as the road curves toward Yosemite. The blue sky, the billowing clouds give way to fir tips. The scent of cedar, moist grass and earth blend to create a heady incense. Bright blue jays embody their name–Stellar. They hop and call, the sequence a minuet of merriment, while their crests ruffle in the skirting breeze.
Into the primeval forest I walk, my footsteps quieted by many layers of evergreen needles. Incense cedars and sequoias create a canopy through which little light filters, enough to imply daylight, enough to imagine native footsteps preceding me through time.
passage of light
upon bare sequoia roots
June daisy blossoms
Beautiful photo to go with this description of Yosemite. I can almost smell the forest scents and imagine the native footsteps.
Thank you, Frank.
nice picture
Thank you.
Thank you for stopping by…hope you will check out my new book. Your site is a joy to visit, and I will return. Ann
And thank you! 🙂 I will make it a point to check out your book.
Beautiful photo
It must be wonderful to come to such a place, love your focus on the approach with all its scents.
This is so beautiful with sight, scent and the moist touch of the earth while bird calls fill the ears with delight. A wonderful summer.
your haibun had me in a magical place, love the tender haiku that linked the forest and your photo beautifully
I love the image of the native footsteps in the prose and the “passage of light” in the haiku.
Lovely descriptive phrases took me to the forest walk. Loved the photo and the haiku!
sigh…such a great haibun especially with the scents and the light and the native steps. I truly enjoyed this.
I love Yosemite, but my memories are from years ago when we vacationed there a few times. I wrote a poem a few years ago about Half Dome, inspired by a photo entitled Falling off of Half Dome that was part of an extensive Yosemite exhibit at NV Museum of Art when I was a docent there.
Is your poem on your blog?
I’ve been to Yosemite twice, but I never feel like I’ve seen all there is to see. Perhaps I’ll have time later to just explore the west and spend many days at some of these parks.
Found it…2010. Can’t believe it’s been that long! Here’s the link: https://liv2write2day.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/one-shot-wednesday-flight-off-of-half-dome/
It’s been longer than that for me, and I wonder often about where the time has gone.