"Life is about those moments of impact that change our lives forever ..."

"No matter how far life's challenges may carry us apart, we will always find a way back home ..."

I am truly a lucky man ... the first moment of impact was walking into Lynn Smith's house when a bunch of girls were playing cards ... though there must have been ten girls there that evening ... I only saw one ... and I still do.  That has been over thirty eight years ago - if I had it to do over . . . I'd fall in love with her again ... I do every day.

lessons from the flowers

So today I noticed one of my all time favorite wildflowers.  It is actually classified as a weed by most people, but one can actually purchase seeds on-line, so that would make it a cultivated plant wouldn't it.  These plants have bloomed a bit early this year with our Indian Summer we have been experiencing.  It is raining tonight, so they will be blooming with the daffodils soon.  These are Capsella Bursa-Pastura, commonly known as the shepherd's purse.  They have tiny white florets on terminal stalks, but then spread their seed pods in a whorled fashion.  If you'll notice the seed pod is heart shaped.  In fact it's name comes from the fact that it is shaped like the sling purse that shepherd's often wore across their shoulder in ancient Israel.  Legend has it that these flowers did not exist until David killed Goliath with his sling ... and if the seed pod is cut open there are five smooth stones in each one of them.  Go figure.

"false summits"

I don't remember the first time, but I remember dozens of times ...
One of my first memories goes back to a mid-June day on which we attempted the Rio Grande Pyramid.  Leaving early in the morning [and probably not early enough] we made the steep climb out of the Weminuche Pass to the trail leading over to the peak.  There was still significant snow on the side we were ascending, so our path up the mountain was either through snow and steep terrain or through very loose scree ... neither of which provided firm footing and our pattern was "five steps up and slide three back" ... and the day grew hotter.  We all thought we knew where we were going and we could look up and see the blue sky pointing to our goal.  But three times we reached that blue sky only to discover that it was just above a shelf that blocked our view of the summit.  Once as we neared what I thought was the 'top' ... my hat blew off ... my only hat ... and it was getting hot and this was the second day of my trip ... had to drop back down and get it ... about a 300' drop that I had just worked so hard to achieve.  I remember the fatigue and the frustration ... but then ... that was twenty five years ago!   In one sense I cannot believe it has been that long, but on the other hand, I have experienced so many "false summits" since then that I've grown more accustomed to the patience and the endurance necessary to achieve my goal.  Those setbacks in life are usually really 'not' ... but rather detours that allow me to see something I had missed or to better prepare me for the the path to come.  It it necessary to focus on the peak, but life is lived in the valleys and on the side of the mountain.  Those peaks that I've stood upon, bring memories of glorious views and of a great sense of accomplishment.  But I have far more memories of those glimpses of blue sky through the trees and of wild roses and columbines along the trail that I would have missed had I not gone back to get my hat!