Friday, December 23, 2011

"Happy Holidays My Friends!"

"My beloved is the mountains, and lonely wooded valleys, strange islands, and resounding rivers, the whistling of love stirred breezes, the tranquil night, at the time of rising dawn, silent music, sounding solitude..." St. John
A very happy holidays to you all my Friends! I am in from some quiet wandering and wanting to express my appreciation to all of you Fellow Placers who shared Summit Stones this year, to Blogger for supporting such a wonderful way for all of us to connect, and especially to the amazing adventurers who 'Adventured For Another Reason' these seasons... We have all shared in such a special year of wandering the wild places... Now choose your present Dear Friends, as it is waiting for you out there someplace, as you dream and envision the horizons yet to be... The very best to you all! DSD

Sunday, December 18, 2011

"An Expression Of Emotion..."



"The real goal. It wasn't, oddly enough, the summit of a mountain or the top of a cliff at all. That's because the goal wasn't really a place, but a feeling. It was an emotion deep inside him, and inside all of us; a sentiment we all search for, but which always seems so elusive." A. Hobson

This quote, these words, so strongly resonated with me the very first time I read them. These intonations, have also echoed out so many times as well over the long years within our wild places... I mused a little this past fall how we adventurers are 'Artists of Life'. Through our journeys and actions out there, we paint our lives full of wonderous experiences. This is our hard won expressionism... Over the long seasons we all wander, it seems that it is not a full enough account to imply that we adventure in the ways we do only to attain some objective. When we put our words and dreams into action, we are doing so for other purposes as well. This new mien, this symbolic representation, this special affirmation of motion out among the wild places - voices so much more... What was inexpressible begins to reveal itself, what is impressible from those very deep inner sensations becomes known. On that climb, where these words were composed and shared with the winds, we recognized again when up so high, the real depths of such valuable emotion... Inner experience becomes a barometer of our outer efforts. What was initially emotive, now manifests and blends with true meanings and the reality of it all. We do what we do out there because that is purposefully symbolic for what is meaningful for each of us... Thus we create our own expressions, of affections, among connections, with each other and the wild places.....DSD

My sincere gratitude to Kraig for him keeping me pondering about us all as 'Artists of Life', and also to you David for your inspiring images...

Happy Holidays my Friends...

Friday, December 16, 2011

"A Fire Gazing December Dedication..."

Endless long moments within those last fleeting hours, lingering of our selves and those so alive coals as well. The warmth of an adventure day quietly shared about with smiles, high place wanderings and reflections of such wonderful challenges... Gazing into the fire now understanding more than what is seen, the flames continuous flickering telling of many inspiring stories. Everything now of lasting memory comes once more to our minds, from past journeys and many seasons of friendships from out there... All things seem distinctly possible when embracing the fires of our lives, the ones that we now rest beside, and the others from so deep inside..... DSD
A dedication for you, my Fellow Wanderers, and also for your 'Adventures For Another Reason', all during this year...

Sunday, December 11, 2011

"Who Would Have Thought..."




Who would have thought, I mused once again, that such trials within our adventure trails, would create so many other potent experiences... Who would have thought, that on a mountain side like that, among those severe edges, testing of skills and confidence, that we would begin to realise things only known when we each take that step further. Who would think, that with those doubts out there during a snow storm, that almost never seemed to let up, we would begin to let go and then sense the wonder of the unknowns... No one could have known that our anxieties upon that cliff face, would prompt us to go beyond, and discover more of what we each can then turn into powerful personal motivations. There were those chills too, in the midst of that mist and endless coastal rain, during our longest hike yet - no one had pondered how our best days would develop within such trying inclement weather. Who would have thought, that being so off course due to paddling through those relentless winds and waves, that we would again sense more within us than we ever first knew... None of us had expected that the wearing of the cold in our coldest winter camping trip, would be a catalyst for developing even deeper abilities for endurance. Who would have thought, that a whiteout above 10,000 feet, would help us now to see more clearly, how and why prior preparation and practice was so very important. Who could have predicted, that upon a northern lake and island, where we experienced so much of what was not expected, we would begin to embrace how wonderful the hidden surprises of the wild places can be. Who would have thought, that down within our darkest and deepest canyon, we would find even other depths within us, reflecting those out there among those ancient grounds. Who would have thought... I muse time and time again..... DSD

My gratitude once more Dear Fellow Wanderers, for these wonderful images that prompt such thinking.

Friday, December 09, 2011

"New Dimensions..."

"One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions...". O.W. Holmes
Gazing out there many days, we often see the truth of this in the distance... DSD

Friday, December 02, 2011

"We Found Our Mountains..."



After long seasons for the skills and preparation, even longer years in the seeking, eventually, it seemed, we had finally discovered our own special mountains... Now that we had done so, then came another kind of understanding: That they were out there all along, simply patiently waiting for us to make the efforts... It was almost as if they knew, we would eventually make the journey... So upon one of their highest summits, with challenges before and after, now each of us and the mountains too were smiling... Yet, now today, we ponder and wonder over, how we thought we had finally found our mountains. Then slowly, we began to realize - that now our mountains had found us as well..... DSD
My gratitude for these images from some Fellow Adventurers who have also had the same discoveries.

Thursday, December 01, 2011

"Breathing In..."

"To breath in that which animates us - is magic..." Anon
Well then my Friends, let's breath in very, very deeply this day... DSD