Not all progress is defined by forward movement. A sore knee after continuous forward progress on the bike occasionally forces me to slow down and stop all together. This is a lesson I'm still painfully learning years after I first realized it....I'm just slow to fully accepting it. By slowing down, we sometimes make more progress. We get to take in the world in ways we don't normally see and at a pace we are unaccustomed to moving. One such way of moving and seeing is through the eyes of a dog...1 foot off the ground, looking up and out in wonder and curiosity, full of joy in the simple beauty of it all. A moments view from another vantage point is often all that is needed to completely change your perspective on what otherwise feels like a forced retreat.......
Stooping down to view things, we still wonder and count how many years have passed before us...this was the year we did this, this was the year we did that...what about now....what about tomorrow?
I've climbed on my bike by this spot hundreds of times, usually in an anaerobic state, and have failed to notice the beautiful moss growing in the indescribable luminosity of late-afternoon...
The colors of transition are beginning to show at ground level.
Even though the future will shower the path ahead of us with countless transitions...we carry the one we last experienced as a reminder of things to come in the future....
No longer confined to the singletrack which only goes in one of two directions; we roam directionless in fields awash in colors of late summer....
Colors which fight to carry on after the bracken has turned to rust....late bloomers will always stand out....
With the days end coming sooner and sooner, our dinner of El Serrano and Bean Burritos is met by a moonless night where the stars appear between bony tree trunks......
Peering overhead to the southeast where the dog star Cyrus will soon appear....an appearance heralding the season of snow....our wonder focuses on the visible arms of the milky way. The next spiral out from where we are is far beyond us and most often times out of sight...until the moment we fix our gaze on it and decide for ourselves that we will continue to grow, to learn and to move beyond where we are now....
Waking up to another beautiful day, our footsteps are deadened by a cool dew in the forest as we sniff around for this years harvest of Lobster Mushrooms....these will make some fine ravioli....
Breaking camp, we transition to the sub-alpine fields off of the AZT.....
......and lounge in a spot with full command of the terrain around us.
Saying hello to friendly strangers who also come to enjoy this place, shortcuts are taken at will......
....play is had..................
....and butterflies are chased from flower to flower.
The sunny fields of late summer inspire many emotions.....wonder in beauty.....
.....joy and laughter......................
...contentment and peace.
This time of year is when I often look past the waning summer in anticipation of falling snow....but days like this make me want to stay put....and like a dog, roll in the rays of sun for the pure joy of it all. My mistress winter will come soon enough, but for now....I don't want summer to end.
1 comments:
Bike, dog, woman, and lobster mushroom ravioli (listed in random order). You know how to live my friend.
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