Ashleigh Kennedy--Experience of Natural Setting #2

“…in the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in the streets or villages…in the woods we return to reason and faith.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every year my family and I travel to Lexington for the Virginia State 4H Horse and Pony Show Championships. As we steadily drive up highway 81 we pass rolling hills and colorful mountains and landscape—it is absolutely breathtaking. However, right before entering Lexington we drive on Afton Mountain which is accompanied with deep valleys below. I specifically remember one evening driving back from Lexington at sundown we stopped at scenic overlook on Afton. I remember looking down on the valley and everything being so small in viewpoint of the mountain. It was as though the houses and roadways were nothing compared to the grandiose of Afton. It also appeared as though the mountain was watching and protecting the valley from outside dangerous—it was a very powerful experience I’ve ever had with nature. I felt as though I was on top of the world, yet still so incredibly little. Perhaps it is the same feeling one would have standing on the base of the Absaroka Range and gazing up toward the sky. You would feel small and powerless, and at the same time feel a sense of security.