BigSurveyor: "Those Who Kill"!

Bet I got your attention with that post title! Well folks, it's time for another post of our Thanksgiving trip to California. Does anyone out there in "Blogdom" know what "Yosemite" means? In case you didn't know and couldn't guess, it is an Indian word describing the Indian tribe living in the Yosemite valley when it was first explored by the white man...."Those Who Kill". The surrounding, somewhat peaceful Indian tribes had given this name to the "Yosemite" dwellers. However...

The Yosemite People called Yosemite
Ahwahnee or “mouth,” because the valley
walls resembled a gaping bear’s mouth.
by Daniel E. Anderson, "Origin of the Word Yosemite"

If you want to read more about the origin of the word "Yosemite", there is an excellent article right here.

Our Cousin, Steve Burris, was so gracious to take a day out of his busy schedule and drive us up to Ahwahnee. The "Us" was Tami, Tab, Anson and myself. The last time we went to Yosemite it was summer time so it was exciting to see it in fall of the year. It was Anson's first trip to Yosemite so we tried to get in as much sight-seeing as possible. It was warm enough in the sun to eat a picnic lunch and just enjoy the beauty of the park. I guess the highlight of the trip was the visit to the skating rink. The rink was nice, the ice was cold and smooth, the coffee was good and hot, the campfire was welcomed...I enjoyed all of this while standing outside of the rink. No, I did not attempt to skate. Tami and I were content to stand outside and watch all the other people who thought they could skate! I will have to say I was impressed by Tab and Anson's skating abilities. Tabitha learned to roller-blade on Grandpa Bean's front porch and she just transferred that ability to the ice rink. Being a northerner, it must have just come natural to Anson! But Steve...Wow! He was hands-down the best skater on the ice. You could always pick him out of all the other skaters on the ice...just look for a big black cowboy hat!! He was always helping people up, giving advice to the younger skaters and generally just being Steve.

I never visit a wonder of nature without thinking of a passage in Norman Duncan's, "Doctor Luke of the Labrador". It refers to the sea and seacoast but I think it applies here also.

"In our land the works of the Lord are not obscured by what the hands of men have made. The twofold vision ranges free and far. here are no brick walls, no unnatural need or circumstance, no confusing inventions, no gasping haste, no specious distractions, no clamour of wheel and heartless voices, to blind the soul, to pervert its pure desires, to deaden its fears, to deafen its ears to the sweeter calls - to shut it in, to shrivel it: to sicken it in every part. Rock and waste of sea and the high sweep of the sky - winds and rain and sunlight and flying clouds - great hills, mysterious distances, flaming sunsets, the still, vast darkness of night! These are the mighty works of the Lord, and of none other - unspoiled and unobscured. In them He proclaims Himself. They who have not know before that the heavens and the earth are the handiwork of God, here discover it: and perceive the Presence an the Power, and are ashamed and overawed. Thus our land works its marvel in the sensitive soul. I have sometimes thought that in the waste is sounded the great keynote of life - with which true hearts ever seek to vibrate in tune."

Enjoy the pictures!

On the road to Yosemite