It's the little niceties that make life enjoyable. Small things ... like someone holding a door when you have your hands full ... that make you believe in the fundamental goodness of people. The driver who slows and lets you make that right turn into heavy traffic or the person with the full grocery cart who lets you slide ahead of them with your two or three items ... those are the times when you smile and say 'thank you' and really mean it. How uncomfortable would life be without such demonstrations of kindness? You want to know what it's like? Come to eastern Europe, especially the former client states of the USSR. I've been here just over a week and I already been reminded of the screaming lack of civility that characterizes this rat hole. I've traveled extensively around the world and nowhere, not a single place, comes close to the selfishness and greed of this place. Everyone thinks only for themselves and, surprisingly, it's ingrained in the very culture of this region. Being greedy is considered a good thing. Nowhere else have I had someone deliberately close a door in my face as I struggle to carry multiple heavy bags of groceries into our building. I've watched cars wait literally forever for a driver to extend the simple courtesy of yielding a spot for them to make a turn. I've had people shove me from behind as I waited to get on a bus ... despite there being a crowd ahead of me and nowhere to go. I hope that particular moron still nurses the sore shoulder he got when my elbow connected with his chest after the second push.
Why, you ask, is this so important? I believe all civil societies share one important trait ... shared destiny. In these societies, people understand that they all share a common thread, they all breath the same air and that being nice to each other makes everyone's life better. The person who let's you cut in line knows that someone will do the same for them some day. This 'pay it forward' belief makes life somehow more fulfilling and we find it easier to smile. I see so few smiles here and so many miserable people. And when I hold a door for someone here I get, every once in a while, a genuine smile and a 'spaseaba' (thank you). It makes my day when that happens.
King River
King Canyon is one of those parks that gets far too little attention and that's sad. It's a very beautiful place. The largest stand of Sequoia are there and in the adjacent Sequoia National Park. Majestic, ancient trees, some over 2000 years old. And the beautiful valleys and mountains and the King River ... it's a truly wonderful place to visit and enjoy. I spent 2 days there and took many amazing images. This photo is representative of the river. You can imagine the forces that pushed these massive boulders down the river and uprooted those trees. In the spring, as the winter snows melt, this river turns into a raging torrent, moving millions of tons of sand and rocks down to the valley below. Over millions of years this yearly ritual has cut thousands of feet into the granite and created the very impressive King's Canyon. It's awe inspiring and I encourage everyone to visit. Go to Fresno and head east ... you can't miss it.
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| King River - 35mm(1.6 crop),f/18,HDR,ISO 100,license CC BY-NC 4.0 |
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