Walking through Frontierland one evening I noticed smoke billowing from the stack atop Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’s queue. The sun was setting and hitting the side of the mountain, creating a beautiful vibrant backdrop. The sky was full of amazing colors and interesting clouds catching the last light of a long day. It’s not hard to picture yourself out on the frontier in a moment like that.
I grew up in the desert. My childhood was filled with searching out interesting rocks, watching sunsets in the big, open sky and make believe that I was a rootin’ tootin’ cowboy. One of my most frequent imaginings was finding a mine with all sorts of rich stuff and valuables, not realizing that all along, what was truly valuable was the incredible beauty that surrounded me. There’s nothing quite like a desert sunset or the way sand glows around dusk and dawn. It’s as if the earth was made of gold.
These are the kinds of rabbit hole thoughts I find myself diving into at Disneyland. Sights and sounds ignite memories in a meaningful, tangible way. This is the treasure we constantly find at the Park, to be grateful for good things.
