Grateful For the Land and Robert Frost

 CdA River at the Cataldo Mission

When I drive down the freeway, cruise up the river, move through town, or walk along the path I am reminded of the beauty of the land that surrounds me in northern Idaho. I have never taken it for granted. I work each day at trying to capture this beauty in photos. I was reminded again of this poem by Robert Frost today. I went back and reviewed favorite photo images of the land where I live. Enjoy.

The Gift Outright

The land was ours before we were the land’s.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia,
But we were England’s, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.

winter tree

fall up the river

514 Sunset

fall on Hill Street

Priest Lake