"The Map Upon One's Face..."

Do we not all carry and display a type of map upon our faces... Are the lines, the contours, the images not unlike the symbols we find on the maps we use out there...

Our adventure experiences and the challenges & successes, trials & lessons, enjoyment & wonder of it all would seem to create many types of impressions upon one's face. When looking at each other during our journeys, we can see where we have been, can envision where we will now be going, almost as clearly as when we spread our maps out upon the ground. The title of a 'map' for any day of wandering may be of a hiker, a climber, then a kayaker, later a canyoneer, or river rafter, among so many other wondrous adventure pursuits. The legend of these maps - their keys, helps us to understand what is actually being represented there. We read it closely to envision what is being told to us... Again as we do when reading each others faces as we weather the elements, as we make our way among the wilds, when we look into that mirrored reflection upon those mountain lakes...

Maps need a compass too for knowing how to orient oneself to it, for clearly establishing north, and then understanding which way to turn and carry on. We enjoy mentally picturing such distances and heights, size and scales, depths and elements, both personal and of the wild places.

The maps upon our faces were not purchased though, but earned... They are as valuable as any ancient mariners chart, and have been sculpted not by ink, but by the elements themselves and through our efforts.

I so enjoy learning to read, to understand, to envision and embrace, the many challenges and discoveries that the maps on our faces and in our lives present for us.....

DSD