Sheree Altobelle's photostream

It's been a year of painful realities and reminders of what is important in life, our loved ones. This Christmas will be spent with the people I love most in the world. It's a time of healing and cooking and holding on to each other. Tightly. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. May joy fill your hearts and homes.

When I visit Sequoia National Park I feel a sort of kinship to the place. My parents camped here almost every summer with us kids in tow, we all slept in sleeping bags in tents. The smell of a distant campfire brings back memories of my dad grilling mountain toast in the early morning hours. We'd keep a watermelon chilling in the creek. This place sends me into a dizzy state of sights and smells... bringing back memories of simpler times. A more innocent time. I grew up here, I spent my early adulthood here, swimming, hiking, camping. And Sequoia hasn't changed much, not as much as the outside world has. I can always come back here and turn back time just by inhaling the air. You can't buy that feeling, you have to just appreciate the beauty of such a place and the fact that it still exists. *Deep breath