yosemite: "in every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks"

lately i've been dreaming, thinking, and talking about how
desperate i have been for a frosty cold morning...
yosemite gave me a frosty morning beyond my sometimes
limited imagination.
it truly does pay to wake just before the sun
{and before the rest of the tourists}.
as we began our hike looking for the trailhead
i could see just beyond the pine trees that there
was a frozen mist hanging above a meadow just beyond.
i quickened my pace, and my giddiness overcame my lips and my eyes...
i knew this was going to be pure joy.
i'm awaiting the development of my film images that i captured;
you're going to love them.
we hiked up a little canyon and i was so pleased to be wearing
an oversized sweater and a ridiculously huge down coat to keep me warm.
i loved our hike.
i loved stopping to take photos,
and i loved talking with ceej along the way about the things most important to us,
and how we were going to work hard to achieve simple, but profound, goals.
we had a mid-morning picnic on a granite rock near the water...
you have to have mid-morning picnics when you wake up so very early.
this was the beginning of our trip.
and the rest was just as good.

i had no idea how much the cold and the changed leaves
would rest my soul and heart,
and give me inspiration and determination beyond anything else...
i've forgotten how powerful mountains are.
can't wait to live in a mountain valley again...very soon.