Mountain Man

I grew up in Utah. As such, one of the first things I noticed upon moving to San Diego is the lack of mountains on any horizon I choose to look at. Instead I have this:

Beaches are nice. You can do lots of things at beaches you can't do anywhere else, like go swim with the sharks which I did with a bona fide feller that has a doctorate in sharkology. Besides sharks you can find other cool sea life:

 

Just about anything the Beach Boys sang about can still be found at the beach, at least on warm days (sorry no pics), but other awesome things that the Beach Boys sang less about can also be found near the beach:

Lastly, if you like sunsets or just staring off into the distance in an attempt to seem more ponderous and dramatically contemplative then you can't do much better than the beach:

Despite all of this I couldn't help but be reminded during my last trip to Utah of just how much I miss having mountains around me. When you grow up with this in your backyard it may be easier to understand why:

That not doing anything for ya? How bout this?

Seriously just look at those Rockies! Some old acquaintances once tried to tell me that the mountains in Utah were ugly. Like most badmouthing of Utah this seems to have been the result of being subjected to the poisonous filtered lens of Provo which tends to obscure all that is great about Utah, but rest assured that I corrected them...maybe not, but at least I am really, really, really certain that they are wrong in this regard. Besides being beautiful, the mountains also provide a number of unique activities all their own and I actually participate rather willingly in some of them (perhaps a little unwillingly in some of the others). You can also encounter a wide range of incredible wildlife up in dem hills:

Sometimes the wildlife is actually real too, but good luck riding those ones. You probably won't find too much in the mountains that the Beach Boys sing about, but you can find snow bunnies and thats pretty close. You also probably won't see many aircraft carriers in the mountains, but you can still find amazing things up there. Things like waterfalls.

It is little wonder that the Greek Gods of old, who lived near the sea and some mountains, chose to call Mt. Olympus their home. While my Greek blood does occasionally seek to conquer the sea, I think after having lived in the mountains and now near the beach, I must concur with my divine forebears and declare the mountains as superior.