Being out of town, and seeing scenes like this, brings back positive memories.

This photo of the sleigh horses at Ashcroft brings back memories of just a few weeks ago, when I went up with my mom for lunch at the Cookhouse. It was a quiet, slow-paced day, just right for a sleigh ride. I saw the area through a visitor's eyes that day and came away with a new appreciation for the beauty of the place. Now, having spent the first two weeks of a six-month sojourn in New York, the beauty of the day seems all the more remarkable. As I was viewing photos of the archive, this scene jumped out at me as being especially quaint, what with the old buildings in the background. I look forward to a return to the valley and the simple pleasures of standing there, taking a deep breath, and really seeing what is in front of me. If you are in the mountains today, you might try a similar exercise. But maybe distance, and time, are important ingredients to raising the appreciation factor. Perhaps that is why so many visitors return year after year. The beauty stays with them, and calls them back for more.