I always assumed I preferred mountains over oceans for two reasons. 1. I never went to the ocean until I was grown. During my first ocean swim, I was stung by a school of jellyfish. Apex predators have nothing on those stringy, gelatinous creatures.
The second reason I prefer mountains is the more important one. The Rocky Mountains were the first place that I became aware of the sacredness of the earth, and that I could be a part of it if I wanted. Even as an oblivious little kid, I felt a sense of wonder and awe when I’d see an unbroken vista of snow capped peaks stretching into infinity. To this day, the smell of cedars or Ponderosa pines hanging in the air makes me stop and inhale deeply. My parents taught me to appreciate that joy during our frequent mountain drives.
When I was a teenager, I went walking through a misty, not-quite-foggy, mountain forest with three friends. As the mist descended, the hard edges of granite rocks and the stiff needles and rough bark of the pine trees softened until they looked like they’d been brushed into being by an impressionist artist. I gaped at the surreal mountainside, thinking over and over, “I love this, I love this,” as the mist soaked into my hair, skin, and clothes. I think we all felt the mountain’s mystique as no one was in a hurry to go dry out in the cabin.
However, all that oohing and ahhing aside, a study says that maybe I prefer mountains not because they were my first sacred place, but simply because I’m an introvert. This study, done in 2015 with over 600,000 people, found that “... mountain-lovers were more introverted than ocean-lovers...” *
The study didn’t go into causation, just correlation. Extroverts are Team Oceans. Introverts are Team Mountains. The study also found more people prefer the oceans over the mountains, for a variety of reasons, including some people think it’s more work (effort?) to go to the mountains than to go to the beach.
That study describes me and my preferences. What about you? Are you introverted or extroverted? Are you Team Mountains or Team Oceans? Do you match up to the study’s findings? Write a comment or drop me an email, please!
PS- Saying you’re both Team Mountains and Team Oceans is absolutely acceptable. Bora Bora’s landscape seems perfectly idyllic to me.
Bonus Content (lol)
Inside Arrowhead Lodge in Poudre Canyon. The Lodge has never been open when we've been by before, but we got lucky on this trip. The Lodge is owned by the US Forest Service. It's a fun and interesting stop if you're passing by and have the time. The video above is Poudre Falls on Monday, August 5, 2024.
Dahlias and sage from the backyard, August 12, 2024
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