Looking up.

[ From the REI parking lot where we picked up our 2008 parks parking pass. ]

Awesome weather here yesterday called for a hike + picnic on Mt. Pisgah. Lily was loaded in the back. Water bottles were stuffed into the backpack. Sandwiches were grabbed at a local shop and off we went.

Sometimes when I go hiking I find it way too easy to keep my eyes focused on the ground as I walk rather than looking around and actually taking in all the beauty. I am always watching out for rocks and snags and holes - you know, being practical and safe.

Some of it is also that whole being in a hurry thing. Gotta finish this hike to get on to the next thing.Hurry. Hurry. Hurry. Whatever it is on my list at home: the laundry that needs moving, the bed that needs making, the emails that need to be returned, the projects that need to be completed, the garage that needs to be totally emptied and put back together again.

Yesterday I decided to make myself look up. Make myself really be present on this hike. Look up and actually see the way the trees reach for the sky; the way some branches are covered with moss like a cozy wool sweater; the way some are sprouting new growth and seem to be waking up right in front of our eyes; the way they create these complicated patterns in the sky twisting this way and that; and the way the clouds change from moment to moment as if playing a game of hide and seek.

I love that I made myself look up. Made myself slow down, be present, and see.

I also love that when we were saying the prayer with Simon tonight he said he was thankful for going on the hike. 

Now before you think that our hikes are completely zen and all about being present...really those are just little moments in the overall experience that I carve out as I go along.

In reality our hikes are all about being together. About getting outside and trekking up and then back down again. About having conversations as we talk about what Lily is doing and about whether the other dog we just passed on the trail was "friendly." About comforting Simon after he trips on a rock and skins his knee. About stopping to double-knot Simon's shoes again for the third time. And chatting about what we will do next as we transition into the parking lot area (today we went to the used book store) .

It's all good. All of it. The zen moments, the crying moments, the dog moments, the transition moments, the together moments.