Hiking In Afton...

I've spent hours upon hours here - and know it as well as if it were my own back yard... In many ways, it was. I've climbed these waterfalls with my dog, lounged upon its shores writing poetry, and have simply sat and contemplated. Whenever I leave this place I feel a tremendous sense of well-being, and it stays with me for the rest of the day...
How can one help but appreciate beauty such as this?

Here's a poem that was inspired by this place - I'd written it some years ago...

IN THIS PLACE

Here Tiamat ever changes -
Not by Kingu's blood, but by mighty Ea upon her body.
And the Maskim, they watch me,
Yet I know them not,
Tho know they are here among rock and tree.
They know me.
With the rising of Sin they await to haunt my abode and temple.
And in secret places I converse with Thoth,
Finding grief with every word,
Tho I have seen him not -
But I learn.
The watchers know, taking form of crows -
They converse, and I know them.
Ishtar knows me,
And I seek to have a piece of what she beholds.
And I know her not,
But she knows.
Still here I sit watching waters run,
And with each moment shifts the body of Tiamat -
Ever changing with the passage of time...