The renewal power of nature

Day 809 - a beautiful Saturday and we just could not stay home. So we packed our backpacks and drove to the nearest city for a half a day hike in the area that was hit by the big Carmel fire two years ago. It was sad to see all the burnt trees, a silent evidence to the fire that roared there for over a week and devoured acre upon acre of trees and sadly also the lives of 43 people. We hiked there and it was both sad and uplifting. Nature does not dwell on yesterday and what ever happened in the past stays there. It only deals with today and today was warm and sunny and full of flowers. You can see amazing flowers everywhere. And this is new to the area because under the dense canopy of trees and the acidity of the soil only few plants can grow.But now that the trees are gone the wild flowers where in full bloom. You can become very philosophical when hiking. The meaning of life and death in the cycle of life in nature; the meaning of really living in the moment; the burst of new life and renewal in the face of death and destruction, or better yet in its wake. We are both recovering from health problems and so the hike was a little more difficult than usual but so very beautiful. My partner already hiked the trail in the past but it looked very different then, and I never been to this specific trail so we both enjoyed it very much. But I came home and was so tired - the antihistamines are still taking their toll on me so I had to go for a short nap and even now I am so very tired and just ready to hit the sack again.

I am thankful for a wonderful hike today. I am thankful for having a partner who likes to hike as much as I do; with every passing week I learn to appreciate it even more. I am thankful for lessons I learned today on the trail from the ever so wise mother nature; I hope I will be able to incorporate those lessons into my life.