Face to Face with God

Took one hour to paint out.

This was way back when I was in junior high... I think... I forget where exactly this was... but it is somewhere in the Big Bear mountain area. Around 3am I believe, I wasn't able to sleep... it always feels weird the first night of camping. So I stepped out of the tent and looked at the night sky... and saw that. I immediately recognized the constellation Orion [link] standing before me. I was so awed by this sight... I've never seen the sky like this before... as if the whole sky was on fire and here... felt like Orion made his presence known only to me and wanted to say something to me. I just stood there feeling this powerful presence... trying to listen. Seared into my memory... I am hoping to experience something like this again.

What is pretty amazing about Southern California is that here in the dry lands of this sprawling mega-city... only a few hours drive... we have mountains... and yes we even have real snow in the winter. My family went camping quite often via group trips arranged by people my parents know from the Chinese school. They were alright... I never thought of these trips as anything spectacular... since these weren't like national parks teaming with exciting wildlife and grand open spaces. Everywhere there's man-made stuff... it didn't feel special except for that night.

I've only been to Yosemite once(it is a really really beautiful place) but still these places are crowded with cars and people from the cities during peak holiday seasons.

Air pollution, noise pollution, light pollution, deforestation, over-crowding and development of wild lands. When the world is filled up with man-made things... it takes away our ability to have these intense special moments with Nature... with God.