Age 12
Western Camping Trip, Summer 1972
It’s a glacier-worn valley. Snow is everywhere. A few sharp, jagged black peaks jet up from the snow-covered ridge. A waterfall sprawls down the face of the gray rock. It looks very tiny because it is so far away, but you know it is really quite large, and you wish you could climb up it and feel its spray. A small glacier, which has an odd blue-white color, rides the top of one mountain top.
Puyallup Glacier is the name, one of the many glaciers that are at the foot of the mighty Mt. Ranier. But we can’t see Mt. Ranier’s mystic peak from where we stand. A swift, milky-white glacial stream tumbles down at our feet. Pine forests surround us, as do beautiful pink flowers. A sweet fragrance of pine, flowers and snow reaches your nose, while for miles around nothing can be heard but the birds singing in the forest and the murmur of the swift stream.
Peace
It’s rather difficult to imagine what it would be like if there were no wars. I can’t remember when the United States hasn’t been in a war. I think that if the Vietnam War ended right now I would be very relieved and happy – happy that finally it would be all over.
Many people don’t quite grasp what real peace is. They believe that with the stopping of all wars there would be absolute peace. Although this would be an important step in the right direction, there would still not be complete peace. A dictionary defines peace as “the absence of war between organized states and also the friendly collaboration of organized groups working towards common goals.” In this definition, the word “friendly” should be emphasized. It must be human nature to fight. Let men keep striving toward peace. Even if it may take hundreds of thousands of years, at the rate we’re going, someday we will have peace.