June 13, 2011
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Sitting under a Tree
Fujairah is squeezed in between the mountains and the sea - two of Fujairah's main assets - and both the beach and the mountains are terribly under-used. Many times I've wondered about the miles of sandy beach between Fujairah and the Omani border - and why I often am the only person there on a Friday morning. You have the unspoiled sandy beach next to a small area of real sand dunes - and then you have the wetlands with lots of mangroves. And in the background you have the mountains.
How it is possible - I just don't get it! - that I'm the only one there on a Friday morning? I'm not talking about now, in this crazy heat, but in January or February, when it's 25C and not a cloud in the sky. Anyway, the only people I see are young guys driving their 4x4s along the edge of the water for five minutes and then disappearing.
But this blog entry is not about the sea. It's about the mountains. It only takes me twenty minutes to drive to the village Hayl from my flat. And just behind it - on the small, windy road towards the Hayl Fort - you're at the foot of the mountains.
I love these mountains. And again, I've never met a single soul when walking up the mountains here. I've seen a few donkeys and the odd (what looks to me like a) grouse. But no people.
Anyway, let me introduce me to one of my favourite spots. This was me two days ago, sitting under a tree.
Not a soul. Complete silence - except for what sounds like crickets. No flies or wasps. And a remarkably fresh breeze blowing in spite of the fact that the thermometer showed 37C when I left home. Here's my view to the left.
And here's what I can see straight ahead.
There's something truly relaxing and wholesome about sitting under a tree. Getting into a serene and contemplative mood comes almost automatically. My sister tells me that we are way too tense and worked up in today's busy lifestyle. We need just to sit down and do nothing for a while. "Just look straight ahead and do nothing", to quote my sister. Which is something I find incredibly difficult to do if I'm at home.
But if I'm sitting under a tree, it just happens all by itself. Here's the view to the right.
I have this hiker's foldable seating pad (which says Ändhållplats) and which weighs only about 100 grams. But under this tree, it didn't really need it. The rocks were flat and even, and just the right angle. If I had leaned straight back and turned my head back all the way, I would have seen this view upside down (but I actually sat up straight with my camera).
A whole hour went by and I didn't really do anything but just sit there. Under my tree, like Disney's Ferdinand the Bull. And the nice thing is that I can't say I was thinking about anything in particular. I was just there. This picture is me using the zoom to get a nice shot of the small tree right in front of me.
Just below the big boulder I was sitting on was this tuft of green. Not sure what it was.
And then I just lay back and looked up into the tree.
It only takes 20 minutes to drive to the foot of the mountains, and to get to this spot, it only took me another 40 minutes of walking. So the mountains here in Fujairah are very accessible.
And looking up into my tree, I can't help wondering why I never meet anybody up here.
Comments (2)
I loved this, Bjorn. You are so much like me in the way you appreciate landscapes. I love your pictures and found my favorite was the brush growing out of the side of the mountain!! When you remember that Kahlil Gibran wrote much of his poetry under a tree, your pictures make perfect sense of it all.In The Prophet he wrote
"Like a giant oak tree covered with apple blossoms is the vast man in you.
His might binds you to the earth, his fragrance lifts you into space, and in his durability you are deathless."
Gibran loves you and so do I!!!
Bev
@Sojourner_here - Thank you, Bev, this is beautiful. Much appreciated!