A Journey Far and Wide, Where Has Your Heart Taken You?

Field of gold

Northern California during autumn,

golden valley, harvested fields, open spaces, geese in flight.

Country roads leading near and far.

 

Tree in Golden field

Clouds adding texture between the valley and the foothills.

A single tree sets the stage.

 

White barn in a field

A barn in the middle of a harvested rice field.

I grew up in this valley,

under these clouds,

surrounded by rice fields,

in wide spaces,

with long grey paved roads,

and barns in the middle of nowhere, but at the center of our lives.

 

Foothills northern california

The foothills north of San Francisco are rolling gold,

The fence post holding nothing in,

are the first sign that my childhood home is near.

My heart opens,

I feel the rolling gold, rolling gold, rolling gold…..

 

Foothills

 

Pouring into the Sacramento valley.

 

Country mailbox

 

Sacha, my son often asks, "Why did you leave?"

And my heart stings.

Following your heart is not always easy.

Especially when it divides you in two.

 

Oh distant geese that fly overhead where are you going?

Rolling gold along the long grey paved road?

 

 

Northern california valley

I left because I fell in love.

I come back because I am in love.

That is the gift of an abundant harvest.

 

Shasta

At the end of the valley Shasta rises.

What do I see the valley or the mountain, the peak or the desert, the highpoints or thelow points?

A blend makes it interesting and good.

 

Blue skies with clouds

Blue sky with clouds overhead.

 

A journey far and wide

A journey far and wide.

 



Comments

21 responses to “A Journey Far and Wide, Where Has Your Heart Taken You?”

  1. I understand very well. When I am in Poland, I miss Canada. When I am in Canada, I miss Poland.
    Have a great weekend with your family.

  2. Melissa Paruzel

    I live in my country which funnily doesn’t feel like my country anymore. My childhood memories is totally different to the country I came back to.
    My husband doesn’t miss his country much except all his family are there. In Poland. He misses them and travelling back and fro from Asia is too expensive. He left there due to work. He stayed on because he fallen in love. And his tiny but growing family lives here. I am willing to move to Poland if he wishes to go back. Love is like that. The sacrifies we make.
    My mother was the same. She left her roots and family to be with my father. Across the sea and tolerating different cultures etc. I never did understood it until I got married.

  3. Just Beautiful!

  4. corey this is truly the picture of a heart big enough open enough to dwell in 2 places fully and wholely-it is a wonderful self protrait-and as always… I enjoyed my trip to your art gallery today-

  5. Life is indeed a journey “far and wide”.
    A beautiful place to come from and to return to,
    a place where part of your heart is. Delightful, wonderful pictures.

  6. Victoria Ramos

    I LOVE THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY — as well! Welcome back to Northern California, for a while at least!!!!

  7. The hills and Mt. Shasta are beautiful. Nice photos.

  8. You’re giving me saudades for Northern California (sniffle).

  9. Soak up every last delicious drop.

  10. That is one word I know!

  11. Beautiful poetry of words and images. Your portrait is so evocative.

  12. Shucks. Where ever I am, I miss where I’ve been. I miss Colorado the most. My vagabond life leaves me with a string of places I still miss. Reading your comments makes me wonder if there’s something wrong with me. 🙂 Then I remember how I stopped missing too many people and places. I’m always leaning into another move–wanting to be someplace else. I long for an Airstream and an atlas, yet your comments woke a slumbering piece inside me.
    Lovely photos. I think I would miss all that beauty as much as I miss mountains.

  13. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    “I left because I fell in love.
    I come back because I am in love.
    That is the gift of an abundant harvest.”
    Well said.
    I sometimes miss the rolling hills, huge skies, amazing sunsets, ethereal wisps of wild pink redbuds across a grey late winter landscape, rugged scrub oaks, and red, red dirt of my childhood state of Oklahoma. And you couldn’t pry me away from western Washington.

  14. Sim, Senhora!
    I especially miss fresh late-bake Extra Sour San Francisco Sourdough French Bread with dark crust, See’s dark-chocolate-covered marzipan, and extra-sharp Oregon Tillamook cheddar. Also, in season, baby artichokes and assorted California citrus, especially Meyer lemons.
    My late father would mail us a few 2-lb. blocks of Tillamook every so often, when it was on sale at the grocery store from time to time. And when I’d fly home from visiting him in the spring, I’d have a whole box full of all those goodies as a piece of checked luggage (back in the good ol’ days when one could check two bags apiece for free)!

  15. What’s the last photo a picture of?

  16. Corey! my heart has taken me to England! yes, I am finally here walking the land of my ancestors!!!
    for two whole months!! a trip of a lifetime x

  17. Jean Munroe

    You are becoming an amazing photographer. When, oh, when, are you going to offer your photographs for sale? And when are you going to write a book? Do it!

  18. Corey this is so beautifully written and heartfelt! I posted it on my facebook page!

  19. Corey,
    So beautifully said. So beautifully photographed.
    from a fellow valley girl….just a different state.

  20. It could be that it’s called uprooted… I will always be ‘at home’ where Hero Husband is and luckily we both wish to return home (Switzerland) for good. BUT the travelling and living in other countries, cultures and meeting so many amazing and very dear people has incredibly enriched our own lifes and has most certainly opened up our hearts and understanding. But it IS a constant suffering in some way – you always miss those you can’t see at that given moment. Luckily with travelling possibilities we can visit the far-away-friends from time to time – something that was not possible in the early 70th.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *