Welcome! I am a contemplative thinker and photographer from Colorado. In this blog, you'll discover photographs that I've taken on my hiking and backpacking trips, mostly in the American West. I've paired these with my favorite inspirational and philosophical quotes - literary passages that emphasize the innate spirituality of the natural world. I hope you enjoy them!

If you'd like to purchase photo-quote greeting cards, please go to www.NaturePhoto-QuoteCards.com .


In the Spirit of Wildness,

Stephen Hatch
Fort Collins, Colorado

P.S. There's a label index at the bottom of the blog.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

The Earth is the only paradise we ever need . . .


"The love of wilderness is a hunger for what is always beyond reach. But it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need - if only we had the eyes to see."

Edward Abbey




I've always been fascinated by those cultures - like the Hopi people of the American Southwest - who view the "afterlife" as simply a return, in spirit form, to THIS world in order to help those who are still living here in embodied form. To me, that seems a lot less narcissistic than going off to a "heaven" far removed from this Earth :)





Photos: (Top) Fireweed, Reflection Lake, and Mt. Rainier; (Second) Partridgefoot flowers, a hiker, and Mt. Rainier; (Third) Lava, the Tatoosh Range, and Mt. Adams as viewed from Mt. Rainier; (Bottom) Birds-beak Lousewort and Mt. Rainier; All four photos were taken in Mount Rainier National Park, WA, on July 28, 2015



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