Early mornings

I'm getting back to my natural rhythms, going to sleep not too long after dark, getting up at 6 or earlier. Each morning I get up in the dark, fix my coffee, tell Rand basically where I'm off to. He may make me take an umberella or remind me to get my walking stick. I go hike for an hour. Or just find one of those perfect spots and sit. This morning I missed my time for getting back by about 45 minutes, but it was so beautiful once I reached the summit of my walk, there was no way I could leave. It was profoundly quiet, except for the birds and distant bickering squirrels. There was a pine tree in the valley in the midst of all these healthy trees that was dead and bare the top half. Below the limbs were perfectly green and healthy. It reminded me of how people sometimes seem, split in half.

We're at the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado and the topography is so variable and fantastic. There are different mountain ranges all around, but at a distance, so some you can see all the contours and trees and bald spots. Others are far off silvery blue outlines. There are the sand dunes nestled up against the Sangre de Christo range ("Blood of Christ"). They're dwarfed by the multiple 14,000 foot ranges around. My walk was up to the Dunes overlook, only one mile, but by the time I got to the top, it took me 45 minutes. I stop often to try to capture what I see in a photograph, or just to bask and breathe. Being out alone in nature (anywhere...) just makes me feel so open and content.