Take Me to the River

"Green River Overlook"

Canyonlands National Park - Moab, Utah

"Night and day the river flows. If time is the mind of space, the River is the soul of the desert. Brave boatmen come, they go, they die, the voyage flows on forever. We are all canyoneers. We are all passengers on this little mossy ship, this delicate dory sailing round the sun that humans call the earth. Joy, shipmates, joy."
Edward Abbey, The Hidden Canyon -- A River Journey

Please visit my website at www.michaelpancierphotography.com

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A Philosophy to Live By

 Great Smoky Mountain National Park

© 2010 Michael Pancier Photography

Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am. A reluctant enthusiast and part-time crusader. A half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the West. It is even more important to enjoy it while you can, while it’s still there. So get out there, hunt, fish, mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the Griz, climb a mountain, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and elusive air. Sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness of the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves. Keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive. And I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound people with their hearts in safe deposit boxes and their eyes hypnotized by their desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards. –EDWARD ABBEY

Word!

Wilderness

Coal Mine Canyon - Tuba City, Az

© 2009 Michael Pancier Photography

"Wilderness. The word itself is music.

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"Wilderness, wilderness . . . We scarcely know what we mean by the term, though the sound of it draws all whose nerves and emotions have not yet been irreparably stunned, deadened, numbed by the caterwauling of commerce, the sweating scramble for profit and domination.

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"But the love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; 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. Original sin, the true original sin, is the blind destruction for the sake of greed of this natural paradise which lies all around us--if only we were worthy of it."

-- Edward Abbey - Desert Solitaire

Abbey nailed it on the head. There's nothing more invigorating than being in the wilderness, and especially in the desert.  The wilderness will cleanse your soul.  There are so many folks out there without souls or with souls consumed with hate and vengeance.  There are folks that put on a front but truly are driven by dark forces who get gratification from the misery of others and from hurting others. These folks are empty inside.  These folks have never been to the wilderness and would probably show disdain for it because of the lack of human elements.  These people are not living, for they are truly dead in their spirit. Go to the wilderness and be reborn is what I say to them.  Stop dwelling on your misery and hate and petty vicissitudes.  Go to the wilderness and perhaps you will be at peace as I am when I walk in the desert, the Everglades, or the mountains.

Please visit my website at www.michaelpancierphotography.com or
my Facebook Page - Nature and Fine Art Prints by Michael Pancier