While living in Malealea, Lesotho (the mountain kingdom), I wanted to capture my surroundings in some way, but found pictures to be inadequate. These words may not do it justice either, but it was the most fulfilling way I had of helping myself to remember how we were steeped in beauty.
October 13, 2012
I wish you could see what I see. I'm sitting on a rock on the northwest side of the plateau of Malealea village, our home this month. In front of me, the ground falls away steeply in a rocky mountainside; far below, it reaches a stream gorge hollowed out over time by water erosion. The stream curves all around the plateau and also branches out straight in front of me, carving into the vast mountains. These mountains surround the plateau completely, forming layers as far as you can see. The nearest ones are dizzyingly enormous and so close I can see the details of the sides: bare rock some places, small shrubs dotting the green of short, prickly grasses. Though I'm only a few minutes' walk from the village, the only sounds I can hear are a distant rush of water, bird caws and chirps, and a faint clink of cowbells -- probably a flock of sheep grazing on the mountainside, tended by a herd-boy.
The sun is still bright in the late afternoon sky, but it is nearing the tallest ridgeline. Entire mountains cast shadows hundreds of feet long on their neighbors; other places the landscape is dappled with shadow and warm golden light. The air is thick with peace; the breeze carries it to you and you breathe it in. I wish you could feel it.
