Commentaries: Things on the Horizon

Dear Readership,
  Mountains are not all the same.  As this is a commentary, I shall overview over many states that I have visited, not just our present location.  Now, New Mexico has the Sandias, which are grand and really quite beautiful.  They dominate the horizon, and allow for easy navigation, because as long as you can see them, you can use them as a compass.  That, and at sunset, they turn a pinkish-red, so they're really quite wonderful to have overlooking the city.  These are the mountains that I think of when the word comes to mind, and it took this trip for me to realize that mountains can really have quite a fair bit of variety.

Arizona, west of Phoenix

  See, in Arizona, the mountains are shorter, streaked with rough black rock, and have a very jagged, abrasive look to them.  I think that this might be due to an overall lack of rain or snowfall, because otherwise I am inclined to believe that erosion would have taken at least some of the edge off of those sides.

California, outside Los Angeles

  California's mountains are different from all of the previously mentioned mountains.  They are of moderate height, and surrounded by legions of hills.  I must point out that I am talking about the mountains in southern California, and that I recognize the difference between those and the mountains in northern California.  These mountains struck me as resembling grassy Ozarks.  The golden grass that covered these mountains caught the light in ways that seemed to exaggerate shadows and radiate what direct sunshine they did receive, with a beautiful result.

North California/Southern Oregon

   Now Oregon, our present location, surprised me a fair bit.  Despite having had access to a lot of maps growing up, I never realized how mountainous this state was.  There seems to be an endless supply of trees and steep drops when driving outside of town.  I do look forward to seeing more of the state, and hopefully getting to experience the totally of this state's natural environment.
  May good fortune guide your feet,
    Fox.