At 6,288 feet elevation, it’s the tallest point in the Northeast U.S. and part of the Presidential Range in the White Mountains.
Access to the summit is by the Mount Washington Cog Railway on the western slope or by the Mount Washington Auto Road on the east, in addition to hiking. The Appalachian trail crosses the crest.
The mountain is known for its record-making weather. Scientists spending a residency in the winter at the Mount Washington Observatory near the summit have wild tales to tell.
Several storm tracks converge on the mountain, making forecasting difficult.
Hurricane-force gusts are observed there an average 110 days a year.
Tuckerman Ravine, with 50-degree slopes, is snow-covered for much of the year and notorious for its avalanches. Care to ski in June?
The Alpine Garden and Bigelow Lawn plateaus above tree line feature many plants otherwise found in the Arctic.
The first European to record the mountain was Giovanni da Verrazzano, viewing it from the Atlantic Ocean in 1524. The first ascent was claimed in 1642 by Darby Field.
A race up the mountain every June attracts hundreds of seasoned runners. The Mount Washington Bicycle Hillclimb retraces the route in August for top-flight cyclists.
No, the state’s iconic emblem, the Old Man of the Mountain, wasn’t attached to Washington but rather Cannon Mountain in Franconia Notch to the west before finally succumbing to gravity in 2003.
God puts the tree in the middle of the garden as the instrument by which the two become human enough to die, maybe, but also be reborn … to be human also means to be capable of evil in this sense they do fall … into humanity opening out into history and redemption.
to various degrees in a free-fall through much of this trip with a few encountering a work-and-worship community much less a fresh voice, at least, oh, well, I get goosebumps every time I reread the final pages and think of all the possibilities we lost . for whatever that’s worth, don’t forget, when storm clouds appear, prime the pump . peace & love, all the same
You have no idea how much visual pleasure this gives me. As well as a feeling of accomplishment, considering how much work was involved in getting this bed to take hold.
Was surprised to realize my weekly drives from Eastport to Dover and back – essentially one end of Maine to the other – came to only a little more than my weekly total in commuting to and from the office, back was I was duly employed.
But coming in a five-and-a-half to six hour stretch each way, rather than one, was another matter.
In one of the early drafts of my novel What’s Left, I tried this perspective — which I removed from the final version of the book, feeling it was too preachy:
If our workroom was where we could act honorably under the eye of God, it was still no substitute for times of celebration and worship! No, we need to take time every day for prayer and the study of scripture. Just remember: work spent in activities that help our neighbors and enable us to come together for periods of common delight is quite different from anything I see in the realm of time cards or the Harvard Business School.
~*~
Whew! Let’s try to bring this back to everyday experience.
Is there somebody you encounter someplace during the day who makes you feel special? A coworker, cafe wait person, bus driver, teacher, friend? Do tell us!
Karma yoga, by the way, is explained in my novel Yoga Bootcamp. Work itself gets complicated, no?
~*~
The old church Cassia’s family buys in my novel might have looked like this … before the wild rock concerts begin.
Looked like it was flying above Old Glory. State Route 9, near the county line.One stood for preserving the Union. The other tried to tear it asunder. State Route 9, Amherst.
And some folks were upset at Colin Kaepernick of the SF 49ers for kneeling reverentially?
