{"id":497,"date":"2014-09-20T13:34:46","date_gmt":"2014-09-20T13:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/?p=497"},"modified":"2014-09-20T13:34:46","modified_gmt":"2014-09-20T13:34:46","slug":"focus-on-the-backroads-the-horizon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/?p=497","title":{"rendered":"FOCUS ON THE BACKROADS: THE HORIZON"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"HORIZON<\/strong> (noun) 1. the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky. \u00a0 2. \u00a0the limit or range of perception, knowledge, or\u00a0interest.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you are standing (or driving) on a flat road it appears to stretch forever – however because of the curvature of the earth, the horizon is only three miles away. \u00a0Unless you are wearing heals then it is a little further! \u00a0When standing on a beach at the Pacific Ocean it\u00a0looks humungous, it appears to stretch forever. \u00a0It actually does but you are only seeing three of the nine thousand miles across it.<\/p>\n

When I was young my family would drive from Washington State to Montana to visit my grandparents. \u00a0Mom and Dad would be up front and my two brothers and I would jump into the back, after fighting who was going to have to sit on the “hump”. \u00a0We would head out of the neighborhood to begin our 665 mile drive from Vancouver to Helena (now you know why we fought over who would sit on the hump). \u00a0After following the Columbia River for about an hour and after singing 100 bottle of beer on the wall (at least a 100 times – which is actually 10,000 bottles of beer) we would start asking “how much further to Grandma’s house”…..only to be told either it was over the next hill<\/em> or it was up over the horizon<\/strong>. \u00a0<\/em>Later I realize that everything in life is up over the next horizon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The horizon provides many things…..in the morning beautiful sunrises, in the evening beautiful sunsets. \u00a0It is a marker for a destination driving down the road (just ask my parents). \u00a0It is the FOCUS<\/strong> point of many photographs. \u00a0Most important it give us hope as we wonder what is BEYOND THE HORIZON<\/strong>: \u00a0below is a poem by Abbin Joseph<\/p>\n

BEYOND THE HORIZON<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The sun disappeared beyond the horizon after burning brightly
\nThe sky appeared rosy like the pomegranate before darkness crept in
\nBirds in a row swiftly fluttered their wings to reach their nests
\nI stood still staring at the sky beyond the vast horizon<\/p>\n

The horizon is the dividing line between the known and the unknown
\nBeyond the horizon there is always hope;hope of the unknown
\nHope of the unseen,hope of a better tomorrow and a bright future
\nThe horizon is a symbol of days yet to come and duties yet to perform<\/p>\n

Beyond the horizon there is the thrill of expectation and zest for life
\nThe readiness to embrace whatever happens for the love of life
\nThe indomitable will to face the challenges of life from time to time
\nThe realization that the battle of life is to be fought till the end<\/p>\n

Beyond the horizon there are unfulfilled dreams and unsung songs
\nUnknown worlds,untrodden paths and unconquered heights
\nI stood still lost in my thoughts like a naughty kid
\nStreaks of light appeared beyond the horizon in the farthest end<\/p>\n

The horizon brings contradictory thoughts in a disturbed mind
\nSeries of anxious thoughts about the future as well as the present
\nRevealing the mind’s dilemma to face the unknown fearing failure
\nShowing man’s basic reluctance for change and novelty due to fear<\/p>\n

We dream many things and build castles in the air
\nThey are shattered in a moment by unexpected events
\nLike a sudden storm that wipes out trees and roofs en route
\nLife,like the imaginary horizon is full of uncertainties and surprises<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Keep your eyes on the horizon (and the road)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HORIZON (noun) 1. the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky. \u00a0 2. \u00a0the limit or range of perception, knowledge, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":518,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-backroads"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/reece.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=497"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":524,"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497\/revisions\/524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusonthebackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}