Full of Grace

1. The ability to go into the mountains for a few days of restoration.  This includes not only the physical ability to hike and climb and carry everything I need on my back, but also the financial and relationship freedom to go, and the emotional strength to conquer the always background fear of being women alone in the woods.

2. The luxury of peace and quiet, the breathtaking awesomeness of a star filled sky, and the time to contemplate the condition of the world and my relationship to it.

3. Being able to share the beauty of nature with my closest friend.  It has been a very tough year for her and she still makes time for us.  I once knew a woman who said she and her best friend have had the same conversation for the past 25 years.  And I thought “how strange, my best friend and I have never had the same conversation in the last 30 years.”  (although the phase ‘where does the time go?”  has crept in more often than I care to admit)    Better yet, we are able to spend days together out in the woods and have no need for any conversation at all.  Bliss

4. I recently read somewhere that the difference between humans and the rest of the animals is words.  Being out in the wilderness, where I have no need for words, I can become one with the rest of the animals.  And that is a very good thing for me.

5. And yet, with all these wonderful benefits of being immersed in nature's peace and beauty, I still have the absolute joy of coming home.  Home.  Where love and warmth and laughter (and hot showers) always wait for me.

And now I am going to try to quickly catch up on my blog reading before heading to the lake for the holiday weekend.   In recent years the girls have been back at school and Martha and I have had the place to ourselves.  But this weekend many of Beaner’s college friends, and boyfriends, are joining us.  I am very grateful that I got a couple of days of quiet mountain time before all that youthful energy and appetite descends on me.