Higher Ground Expeditions

 

Waldo really liked to live with his new parents, the King and Queen. He will always remember how they found him, lost in the Nolde Forest near Reading, Pennsylvania. He was an orphan when his real mother and father decided thay didn't want him anymore.

Waldo felt very safe since he was adopted by the King and Queen. He was much happier now and liked to explore new lands with them. The Prince and Princess did not come with him but stayed home in the Castle. 

Football is BIG in Dallas. Waldo found a new friend, Mohawk, who played a lot of football and he was very good. 

 

"Once upon a time, in a land far away..."

Once upon a time, in a land far away from the new world lived a king and queen. They grew tired of their daily routine and wished for a new beauty to behold. News of a land of beauty beyond the seas stirred in them a new and strong passion for adventure.

So they called together their two children, a beautiful Princess named Tammy and a handsome Prince named Romeo. It was their desire to share their plans for this new adventure with both Tammy and Romeo so that they would delight in ( and join in with them on) this bold adventure to discover this far away place called BeautyLand.

Immediately the King summoned his family and all their Royal Animals to a Royal Family Meeting. When both the Prince and Princess arrived, along with the Royal Dog, Turkey of Perfection, and Goat of Sure Footing, the King and Queen shared their dream. To their dismay, no one seemed pleased. In fact, the Prince and Princess thought it to be quite foolish, indeed.

Though the King and Queen were visiably disappointed and taken back a bit, they maintained their composure and inner determination. It quickly became apparent to them that both the Prince and Princess were making a very terrible mistake. But this was DreamofBeauty Land and choices were most certainly permitted here. Both Prince and Princess chose to remain at the castle and continue on with their life of merry making.

Along the way the King and Queen of DreamofBeauty Land met some very admiring animals, including this georgeous Panda named Perri and her playmate, Terralis, the White Tiger. They quickly became friends with their new acquaintances and followed the King and Queen along this journey for many days.

As the days extended into weeks, however, they lost sight of the Royal Dream, the desire to reach BeautyLand. The Panda and White Tiger both gave up their accompanying of these two Royal Family Adventurers with slight sounds of regret. They slowly turned around and returned to DreamofBeauty Land and to their life of Familiar.

One of the most frightening moments for the King and Queen was the day they discovered this iDog, a creature they later lovingly referred to as "Imus".

At first they thought he was a statute, for he stood motionless, towering over them in silence. However, as the King extended his boldness and approached the iDog, this all changed. For, you see, this iDog came alive at the very moment the brave King touched his nose. He wagged his ears, made doggish sounds with his mouth, and turned his head from side to side.

But since he was not able to walk (and the King was no match to carry him), they had to say "Goodbye" to Imus and continue on their journey. Walking without Imus was harder than they thought it might be. They had learned to love Imus almost as much as they loved their own children Tammy and Romeo.

The next creature they met was also a much frightful one indeed, despite the fact that the King showed no sign of fear on his face. This Giant Squirrel, named Sirrus, had been held captive for over 24 hours and he was very hungry. He was also quite angry. The King graciously opened the trap door and welcomed Sirrus to freedom. Sirrus merely wiggled his nose back and forth, smelling a moist dinner of Royal Filet St Michael.

But before Sirrus could advance in any threatening manner, a cleverly appointed acorn dropped just outside the trap in which he had been held. Delighted by this new food source, Sirrus became pleasantly distracted, just long enough fot the Royal Duet to depart to a safer localle.

Finally the King and Queen reached the Land of their Dream and together they strolled arm in arm into this world called BeautyLand. It was everything their had ever imagined it to be. They sat down to catch their breath (it was SO BEAUTIFUL). As they reflected back over their long, yet exciting travels, they recalled with earnest the many hours upon hours of singing their favorite song, "I Can Only Imagine". This song had become etched into their spirits as they journeyed to this marvelous new place. "MercyMe!" they exclaimed, "We've finally arrived!"

What they discovered was truly phenomenal. It was extraordinare, quite remarkable indeed. For you see, the people of BeautyLand were celebrating the unfolding beauty of the Cherry Blossoms! They were celebrating the coming of spring and their victory over the Wicked Witch of Narnia. The Witch's despicable plan of keeping the residents of Narnia frozen in time was finally unraveling. Hallelujah!

One thing about BeautyLand, however, puzzled the King quite deeply. Might I say that it troubled him greatly? Why, on earth, he thought, would any creature build a giant sword and project it upward in such a fashion into the heavens? You see, beyond this beautiful pool of water where the King and Queen stood (a reflective pool which was surrounded by garden after garden of flowers and cherry trees) was this unusual and heretofore never seen vertical "spear". Yes, they both caught a glimpse of it, off in the distance, rising out of the Mother Earth. Indeed it was a very tall sword, quite wide at the bottom but rather sharp at the top.

Did this new land contain monsters and giants worthy of such a huge sword? Had it fallen from the heavens? No castle of the King's domain was approaching half the height of this monster sword.

As they left this pool area and walked through the awesome trees filled with cherry blossoms they moved toward this "spear". Approaching the towering sword they immediately noticed many, many people coming out of this "spear" through a swinging door. Stunned they could only stare in disbelief. For as these people departed from the inside the sword, each one would point to the sky and and shake their head in amazement! The King and Queen turned and walked around the next corner, hoping to wipe this unpleasant impression from their minds.

As they walked around a pond-like body of water they periodically peaked through the cherry blossoms to see what lie beyong. Here is one sight which caused them to stop dead in their tracks and almost faint on the spot.

It was a very large structure, white and circular with a round top so amazing the King's heart skipped a beat. With much worry and fear the Queen insisted he stop looking at this awesome sight least he depart from this life and leave her alone in this foreign and confusing, yet beautiful land. He obliged with the Queen's request, as any good King would do, and continued walking east, hoping to find hidden answers to his many questions. Both the King and Queen were quite pleased with the numerous sights around them until....

...they happened upon something even crazier and bizzare than the vertical "spear". Right in front of them were these two scantly clad men who were sitting and apparently talking to a bronzed statute they found out later was named George Mason!

WHY would any psychologically stable person do such a stupid thing? It was difficult for this Royal Couple to refrain from insulting these two men. After all, they both were acting in ways befitting the Royal Animals back at the castle kingdom of DreamofBeauth Land. For several reasons left unspoken the King withheld his judgment and criticism. Might it be that these two were much taller and heavier than the king and both spoke rapidly in a language unheard of before? We may never know why.

Their clothing also appeared to be no more than slightly colored rags, especially when compared to the Royal Garments of the King and Queen. However, they were acting oddly. They were smiling constantly and laughting continuously. It appeared that they kept repeating this one word over and over again..."Goji, Goji, Goji, Goji, Goji..." Bewildered and slightly bemused, the King and Queen turned and walked slowly away.

As they walked on they came across a distinct group of formations, something else which their eyes had never beheld. There were fountains, deeply etched writings on stone, and sculptures appearing like the fence posts back in the King's Medieval Kingdom.

One formation had people inexpliciatedly standing in a long row. Some of these people never (ever) moved. Others would take their place in the front or rear of this line. Additional people stood around and watched. Some were holding small boxes to their eyes and making clicking sounds. Then they would laugh hysterically!

Then they heard it...a strange phrase never heard in DreamofBeauty Land. They discovered later that day how familiar these phrases were to the people of BeautyLand, however. The phrases sounded like "Higher Ground, Higher Ground, Higher Ground...the place to be is Higher Ground!" It made absolutely no sense to this Unfamiliar Royal Couple!

This next scene totally baffled both the King and Queen. WHY were these people hiding in the cherry trees? Why didn't they try harder to cover their faces? They apparently were not very good at this thing of concealment. Their skin colors somewhat matched, however. Guess that was their saving grace. The King and Queen decided to look the other way and walk on by on the other side of the road.

(But they, too, were smiling and saying "Goji, Goji, Goji, Goji...")

Finally, at the end of their visit that day to BeautyLand, the King and Queen met these two lovely ladies who were smiling continuously. "This is great," excalimed the King, turning to the Queen. "They seem to know us!"

But an even nicer thing about these two women was that the King and Queen realized they were not muttering those unfamiliar, bewildering words, "Goji, Goji, Goji, Goji...". Yes, those words did indeed sound quite happy. It's just that the King and Queen understood not the true meaning of those words spoken by the earlier visitors met hiding in the cherry trees...words repeatedly muttering for no apparent reason. Words that obviously brought great joy to the strange visitors as evidenced by their boundless energy and joy.

Also, these two costume-clad females were not trying to hide their faces. They pleasantly spoke greetings of "Hello Hello, Hello..." to the King and Queen. They proceded to approach the King and Queen, handing out to the Royal Couple some startling information. The information, as described in the unreadable brochure, showed pictures of an evil practice apparently taking place in a land even farther away from the Royal DreamofBeauty Land.

Gradually, as the daylight faded into shadows of dusk, the King and Queen began the ardulous task of saying "Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye..."to all these wonderful peoples of the world who had congregated here at this special National Cherry Blossom Festival... people who had impacted their Royal lives... places which left very deep impressions on their Royal minds and souls. They began for the first time to understand that their new adventure into BeautyLand was also a venture into FutureLand. They couldn't wait to get back to DreamofBeauty Land and tell Prince Romeo and Princess Tammy of all they had seen and heard.

As the King and Queen were turning to leave, the King thought he heard the Queen whisper to herself, "If we hadn't come today we wouldn't have seen what we saw!" Did he really hear that? Or was he merely "hearing things"?

The King kept this innocently spoken little "quote" to himself and pondered on it the entire way home. Upon return to DreamofBeauty Land he made certain that this one quote remained unspoken. Might it have been so because of his embarassment that the Queen of DreamofBeauty Land would think of such a thought? Or was it because deep down inside the King may have doubted whether it had indeed even been uttered?

The vivid memories of a beauty far exceeding the sights of DreamofBeauty Land, however, remained forever etched in time. And most, if not all, of those memories of the beauty experienced during the trip of their King and Queen to BeautyLand trip truly were handed down through the many generations that followed within the Kingdom. Cherry Blossom memories brought back by the King and Queen still live on today in the minds of most peasants and Royal family - as if they've always existed!

Guess you might caption this pic "George Washington proud"

Meet a highly trained professional, Mr. Mel!

...is under this big old tree!" 

According to the New York Times, "life is, actually, a big bowl of cherry blossom festivals." If you've never seen the Sakura Matsuri (National Cherry Blossom Festival) you've not seen life in it's fullest!

Thousands are "thinking pink" this weekend. Washington, D.C. is celebrating it's annual Cherry Blossom Festival between March 25 thru April 9; peak blooms are predicted for the week of March 27 thru April 1.

This weekend (3/26) marks the 94th celebration of the original gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the City of Tokyo to the people of Washington in 1912.

Higher Ground has participated 4 years in this festival. Preceding this post were several HG favorite pics from past festivals. For more information on this festival log on at www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org. Go see for yourself, return safely, and report back to this blog site all of your findings!

So while we were skiing at Blue Knob we came across this "sheik" on skis. You ask, what do you mean, a "sheik" on skis? One possible definition is: a true Arab chief. Might I possibly be using an alternate definition here? For those of you who've been involved with HG over the years... you might have heard another use of the title "sheik"! Right?

Well, anyway...can you imagine...watching this "Sheik" ski at a blistering speed down the Jack Rabbit ski slope? It was a sight to behold, indeed. So the pic shown above begins to make sense, right? Yes, it was my futile attempt at catching his image on digital. Obviously, it truly was futile...completely ineffective! Maybe, if you look closely, you might be able to make out the blue streak he left behind!!!

I guess you could apply an appropriate caption this pic, "Where in the world is (Waldo) the "Sheik"!?!

The interesting thing about downhill skiing is that w/ every descent there is an equal, accompaning ascent. This allows a brief period of recovery b/f the next race down the slpoes. So thank God for this double chairlift from the bottom of Route 66 back up to The Summit House. While riding up to the top for more extreme fun, I had ample time to reflect...on life, on my next trail attempt, on the beauty in the surrounding mountains, on counting all the ski poles lying below the chairlift, AND on counting the no. of chairs on this chairlift. The number is an EXACT 154. Yes, there are EXACTLY one hundred and fifty-four chairs on this chairlift. I wonder who has the distinguished honor of painting ALL 154 chairs in the off-season...hummmmm.

And, OH by the way, I was able to spot the "Sheik" on this particular chairlift....with a blue streak trailing behind him...

Also, and OH by the way, the EXACT number of "fallen" ski poles lying beneath the chairlift is 41, not counting all the lost ski gloves, broken ski boots, etc.!