Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer?
The question lands lightly, but the answer feels impossible.
How does one choose between wonders?
When I think of “preference,” what rises instead
is my ongoing conversation with place—
how I engage with whatever landscape holds me.
Each evening we drive to the long ocean cliffs,
watching the sun melt yolk-like into the horizon.
The Pacific stretches out forever,
a wide breath the body didn’t know it needed.
And yet, on this same island,
snow collects on dormant volcanoes—
white crowns visible even from sandy shores below.
There is no clear season that reigns over the others.
Instead we layer beachwear with down jackets,
cruising up to 14,000 feet where teeth chatter,
snowboards slice past,
and the whole scene feels surreal,
as if two worlds intersected by mistake.
Nothing truly dies here.
Magenta and peach bougainvillea
spill over highways in winter
just as lavishly as in summer.
Lawnmowers drone year-round.
The land refuses the binary.
So how could I choose one vista over another?
Some days it’s the low road—
the coastline offering sunsets so saturated
I discover new colors every evening,
hues unknown even to the artist’s palette.
Other days, it’s the high road—
that stark blue Southwestern sky
arching above the observatories,
their foundations anchored deeper
than Everest is tall.
Clouds unfurl in thin, silvered strands
over bends and switchbacks,
the landscape shifting faster
than thought can track.
Maybe the choice isn’t mine to make at all.
Maybe nature decides—
leading my eyes first here, then there,
in a dance never static,
always changing.
mountain road with Mauna Kea in the distance ~bj 2025
Kohala sunset on the point ~ bj 2025
Impossible choice, indeed. Good thing you don’t have to choose!
I do Not. Grateful! 💗
During my long life I have sailed the oceans and now live just three miles from Sexton Mountain in Southern Oregon. The natural world is so beautiful.
And aren’t we lucky we can choose where we live?! That’s the other part I didn’t really weave into the poem. And it’s a pretty amazing thing. Hope all is well with you and yours, Paul! 🙏♥️
Jean and I are well, thank you!
Thanks for filling that in, Paul. I could not remember her name, but forgive me – it’s first thing in the morning here! Enjoy your day! 😉
Well versed Bela. Reading your poem, I just relived my experience of shifting views across a few hundred miles of scenic road travel in South Africa many years ago. It was a veritable feast for the eyes that kept dancing to be in step with the variety on display ranging from rolling hills and lush meadows.
I can only imagine. There are landscapes that are so rich and vast, it seems impossible to take them all in. I’ve only seen films that feature areas of South Africa, and read a bit about it (Beryl Markham leaps to mind) and it looks every bit as stunning as places I’ve seen here in the US or in Hawai’i where we have lived for 20 years. It’s a pretty amazing planet, all in all. Thanks for reading. 🙏♥️
In a dance, never static. Love it
The nature of things/life on earth!
Glad you loved the post. Thanks for dropping by. 🙏🌺