Simply Majestic

(Written while in Whistler May 22 - 28. Photos unavailable due to acting out computer!)

Although I haven’t travelled much and haven’t lived in many places, I do believe I live in “the best place on earth” the ads selling our beautiful province say. Urban legend says that the Inuit have hundreds of words for the snowflake. I believe the same may be said for the number of words we have to describe the natural beauty of my city and the many wonderful places so close to my home that I consider them to be my backyard

Case in point: Whistler. A two hour drive up one of the most scenic highways (whoever named it the Sea to Sky could not have come up with a better name!) puts me in a place people from all over the world come to enjoy, perhaps for only once in a life time. Every time I come here I sit back and look at the beauty of it all and think “I live here. I can come and admire this, be in this, any time I want. I can take advantage of all this place has to offer any time of year, either planned or just on the spur of the moment. This is my backyard. How incredibly lucky am I?”

So, here I am spending a week up here amidst the stunning beauty of the mountains, a gift from my mom’s boss (THANK YOU KATHLEEN!!!!) in a gorgeous condo at peaceful, beautiful, right at the base of the mountain Creekside. Settling into a lounge chair by the pool the other day, the hot sun kissing my skin, I looked up to see snow covered mountain tops below which green grass surrounded by forest made up the ski run that appeared to end at the edge of our pool. It was somewhat surreal to look up to this picturesque scene while lounging in the hot sun. A stunning, awe-inspiring, breath-taking view for sure.

Yesterday Dave and I took my mom up the Whistler gondola to the Roundhouse. I have been up here countless times. My mom has not been to Whistler in over 20 years and although I have a memory of riding up the gondola, she really did not. It was during our ride up and the subsequent pause to take in the amazingly grand view offered 6,000 feet up that we agreed upon the word that truly encapsulates what the eyes take in. All three of us were finding words to describe it: incredible, beautiful, awesome, breathtaking, unbelievable, stunning, awe-inspiring, gorgeous…and on and on. But it was Loret who put it best: “It is majestic.” Yes. Truly, it is majestic. Looking out from atop the mountain the magnificence of the beauty before us was palpable. And I believe each of us thought to ourselves “How lucky am I to have experienced this moment of pure majestic natural beauty, and right in my own backyard!”