Westward ho! Adding Context to Travel
We are preparing for the WHO conference in Washington state and GHC in Ontario, California and as I always do when going westward, I start thinking of classic poetry, western songs, and big beautiful sky. For me, it is a way of adding context to a place.
I add history, art, and music to literature to illuminate it, and in the same way, I add literature, art, and music to life to enrich it. Everything that is beautiful and good becomes more so when placed in appropriate context. So—next time you’re planning a trip, remember to add the context!
Art: Lander’s Peak 1863 by Albert Bierstadt
Poem: O Pioneers by Walt Whitman
Music: Ghost Riders in the Sky, performed by Sons of the Pioneers
Sons of the Pioneers were my grandfather’s favorite western music group, and this, along with Tumbling Tumbleweeds, was his favorite western song. I still have one of their old records in the attic, but nothing to play it on.
Music: I’m An Old Cowhand, performed by Bing Crosby
This old song was one that my grandparents knew. It’s more humorous than authentic, I think.
And the really, truly Western sky
Psalm 8 (KJV)
And the grandeur of the western sky makes me think of Psalm 8, my Memory Project chapter for January.
O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Westward ho! We hope to see you WHO in Puyallup, Washington, and GHC in Ontario, California in the next couple of weeks. Please stop at our booth and say hello if you are at either conference.
