7:30 BELLS: How 30 Minutes Revealed Mystery and Magnificence in my Own Backyard

On Friday, I saw two new things that made the bells ring. The Grove of the Patriarchs and Silver Falls. And they were both in my own back yard.

For years my extended family has driven up over Chinook Pass near Mt. Rainier to camp at Lodgepole Campground. Last week, my husband and I took a short detour to visit The Grove of the Patriarchs-- something we had heard about but never visited. It’s a grove of magnificent old growth cedars and Douglas fir trees. I’d seen old trees before, but never so many together. What towering magnificence! What a sense, standing at the base with my neck craned back, that most of that magnificence was  hidden in the  green crowns above.

Then we saw a sign for Silver Falls,  a scant quarter mile hike away. The hugely unoriginal name gave no preview of the fall’s splendor.  A massive cataract tumbled into pool after pool. I stood on the foot bridge over the gorge and watched the river twist away into mystery.

Both of these wonders were a mere 30 minute detour out of the regular route to the campground. I could have enjoyed them many times over the years. This made me wonder. What else am I missing that makes the bells ring that would be so easy to add into my life? 

What haven’t you seen that's been there all along?

THE LORE OF THE BELL:

Take 30 minutes to seek out something new

and the bells will ring