Smelling the roses...
...or so to speak. Well, I guess it's "stop to smell the roses."

Chris Haseman Post

That post prompted me to think about my commute. I commute over Hiway 17 everyday. It's not too long of a commute over the Santa Cruz mountains, which are full of redwoods. Now, I've always lived around redwoods (or at least my dad has). I tend to take them for granted and make comments like "why are the trees so short here?" when I go elsewhere.

The first time Laurie and I went to Redwood National Park was very eye opening. Many of the views were less interesting and less spectacular than the view I get every day while commuting. So why'd they make a national park out of it? Well, that's the wrong question. The real question should be: Why aren't the Santa Cruz mountains a national park? Well, they certainly are many state and county parks that cover a lot of territory throughout. And the rest of it are either small residences (relatively speaking) or vineyards. Gotta have our wine! ;)

The difficult thing about this is finding something you take for granted. For instance, I no longer take the commute view for granted (although I try not to look at it too much while driving -- that could be unhealthy!).