“The silence of landscape conceals vast presence.  Place is not simply location.  A place is a profound individuality.  Its surface texture of grass and stone is blessed by rain, wind, and light…  The shape of a landscape is an ancient and silent form of consciousness.  Mountains are huge contemplatives.  Rivers and streams offer voice; they are the tears of the earth’s joy and despair.  The earth is full of soul.”

by John O’Donohue