Rediscovering the familiar with new eyes…

We had the pleasure of hosting my wife’s cousin (and her son) from Hungary early this month, and it is always interesting to see how they react to the local sights that are so familiar to us.  Of course we took them to Crater Lake, the Redwoods, and sections of the California and Oregon coast… always beautiful, but interesting to find what they thought was exceptional.  For instance in Bolinas, we went for a short hike on the Palomarin trail which starts off going through the Eucalyptus forest.  The Eucalyptus trees are not native to California, they were brought in from Australia.  The trees have adapted very well to the California climate, and are fast growers.  To us, these trees are somewhat ordinary… but for our guests they were amazing in size and beauty.  In looking at the trees again, I could see the beauty they were so enchanted with, and it made me appreciate something I had been taking for granted.  The same held true for other things (shells, seaweed, driftwood)… common to us, but new and amazing to them.  It’s so refreshing to have your eyes opened again…

Looking over the coast from the Palomarin trail (Bolinas is in the background).

 

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