View from the Top

Have you ever read Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native? If you haven’t, the book begins with a very lengthy and verbose description of the English moors. Summarized and butchered, the scene might read something like this:

The land was extremely hilly. And the hill in the very middle was the tallest of them all. On the top of that tall hill was a fire. And that fire was the tallest fire of them all. Standing next to the tall fire was a woman. And that woman was the tallest person standing next to the tallest fire on the tallest hill of all.

Or as my book club said it: Seriously guys, this woman was tall. I mean really tall. I don’t think you get it. She’s the highest thing on the mountain!

I keep thinking about this book and the idea of being the tallest thing on the mountain. Who could help it when this is the view I get whenever I step outside the library?


Although the mountain in that first photo commands the skyline, this might be my favorite view. I love how you can see mountains beyond mountains beyond mountains.


Obviously, if I’m taking pictures like this, I’m not the tallest thing on the mountain. But the library I work in is a bit off the beaten track, nestled in a little valley located at the top of a mountain. In fact, it’s high enough up that I can feel my ears pop every morning as I drive to work. Although I’m confused as to why anyone thought the top of a mountain was a great place to build a community college, I like the view a lot.