May 24, 2012, Lakewood, CO

12:29:17, hours MDT

...continued hiker’s meditation…

At Buckley AFB/Aurora

Temp: 57°F (14°C)

Partly Cloudy

Humidity:        33%

Wind Speed:   NW 10.4 MPH G 18.4 (9 MPH G 16 KT)

Barometer:       29.74 in

Dew point:      28°F

Wind Chill:      55°F

“You cannot see the Grand Canyon in one view, as if it were a changeless spectacle from which a curtain might be lifted, but to see it you have to toil from month to month through its labyrinths.”

John Wesley Powell

Sometimes I sense the consciousness that Powell pointed to, right here in the city- region of metro- Denver. At other times and mostly at other times— the awareness of connectedness to the flora, fauna and weather is only attainable it seems to me, by going out there and parking the car and walking one way for many miles and nights.

It is a profound idea in that one can not see the whole in one view or it might suffice to think that we are seeing the whole from a cruise ship brochure or these days from some ubiquitous ‘e-tailer’s’ website promoting this commodity or that. When the larger view/ perspective of laboring through the Grand Canyon in Arizona settles into one’s longer term perspective it is on account that the seer has lived there over a time and never merely glanced in from various spots on it’s rim.

Sometimes obtaining this perspective of John Powell’s is worthy of the physical exertion, toil  and hustle— and beats to heck the sales on sale day over at Whole Foods or the undemanding comfy set-ups of those tourist accommodations.

How are your back packing  plans this year?

May 14, 2012

There’s nothing wrong with wanting happiness. There’s nothing wrong with making happiness a priority. Problems start with the definition of happiness. What’s going to do it for you? An i Pad? A Big Mac after an especially long and hard day at the office?

Beer and Sunday night football? Or would you prefer a deeper sense of calm, improved concentration and more connection with others?

Sharon Salzberg

May 7, 2012

09:32:55, hours MDT

...continued hiker’s meditation…

Current Reading List:

• Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John Wesley Powell and the Second Opening of the West / Wallace Stegner.
• Alaskan Travels: Far-flung Tales of Love and Adventure / Edward Hoagland.

At times lately— I can feel, sense or experience that I am a mammal and detached from the tethering of the culture. At times the sense comes quite unexpectedly through the olfactory nerve— at other times through working the body on a walk at 10,000’ elev, such as up on Guanella. Today it is raining; a rarity here on the steppes to the Front Range. The freshness on the air reminds me as well.