Mountains or Beaches

It seems that humanity in some way was intended for the garden, the cultivated and cultivatable land. We function in the area between the wilds of the mountainous, dense forests and the vast, expansive mysteries of the seas.

That is not to say that we don’t enjoy or even desire to live on the edges. We are drawn to them, usually one over the other. Most people will describe themselves as either being “mountain” or “beach” people. The question could be raised, however: How much of that bent is purely attraction and how much does fear play into the issue?

The edges tend to be where our fears reside. There is the agoraphobia and exposed feeling of the open ocean or coastline, and the claustrophobia in the hills and forests, where one never knows what could be around the next bend. Do you shun the Gothic atmosphere of an overgrown range or the alien, Lovecraftian feel of the sea? Which can you better handle: the ogre or troll lurking in the cracks and fissures or the leviathan below the surface? Do you run from your fears, or are you fascinated by them?

Then again for some the greatest dread is found on the farm, in the village, in society gone wrong. Sometimes the edges are the safest place to be.