"Moon Shadows....."

It would seem to many who wander that the night is only dark to those who don't adventure out in those shadowed hours...

Most of us know that amidst such perceived darkness is light of another kind; that which often surprises us with its presence, and its radiance. These are the reflections from our closest celestial body - our moon...

Many have continued to move along trails or over waters only under the glow of this being. Navigation under it, and by it, can be such a mysteriously powerful experience. Outside our tents on a night of the fullest moon, you can actually read or journal in the typically darkest hours. For many it is not just this light but also those shadows created and cast by it too that so hold our attention at times.

Legends say that the spirits out there come more to life, in this play of light and moving shadows, especially past midnight. Many tales have been written too, which describe the powers given over to those who are brave enough to stand out under the shining of a full moon, and who embrace the shades found within the shadows of such moonlight.

There is a so telling softness as well to such shadows and celestial light, often experienced when paddling across the moving waters, or when just beginning a journey upon the face of a mountain, and while starting out to hike slowly among the forested valleys...

Shall we now go and wander again, my Halloween Friends, out among the company of those wonderfully mysterious moon shadows...

DSD

"Coming Back Changed....."

"I have never met anyone who has stood, however precariously, on the flanks of a great mountain, or who has been, however briefly, to the dark world at the edge of the abyss, and not come back changed." M. Bane

It is a dynamic and personal relationship, we each have with our wild places.

What we do, who we are, our very elemental essence is revealed...

This reflects upon not just what is out there, but what we each hold so closely to in here.

Deep in our hearts,

Within our dreams,

Among our visions,

For why we do what we do, out among the wild places...

DSD

My appreciation to M. Brown for the top image above, and to D. D'Angelo for the lower image.

"After The Fall....."

Quite some time has passed now since that very trying event, during a challenging season of climbing at the very edge of our abilities. The fall surprisingly came later on, after we were both felling practiced and confident. Yet it was what unfolded after those moments that was to amaze both of us so much...

Any climber who falls in this way knows how terrifying it is, whatever the distance or exposure happens to be. Sometimes our gear reflects the forces that have come to the fore in those moments, like the helmet we saved, battered as it was after doing its job so well. This helmet was now a symbol too of those other forces, those other elements we each can bring forth after such adversity. Forces that become apparent when you look past the event, beyond the injuries, and then gaze more closely at the recovery and the regaining of healthy ground for the shaken self... Distinctly powerful proof yet again of the Outward Bound wisdom of there being so much more within us than we may ever first realize...

Those healing challenges can be so many - of muscle, bone, memory, confidence, and in other internal elements and paths that may need to be set out upon. There will surely be further awakenings too, of the ways and means of newer needed inspirations and why we would want to return and keep going in our chosen directions out there...

When I looked up at the back of the person before me, as they lead their way up that trail, to our next climbing adventure so many seasons later - I thought of the anxieties and fears from back then, no longer present. Of how the real person inside has emerged, then grown past those trials, and now has become so much more... Such is the essence of an adventurous spirit, once fallen, now back up here again... Truly one of our greatest challenges...

So I painted a very special Summit Stone for my friend, having mixed in some particles of leaves and rock dust from where it had all happened. Then once upon our elusive summit, I passed the inspiration back once more, hopefully as it was so powerfully shared with me.

One of my greatest challenges - to be the friend, my friend needed me to be, throughout this long journey, and then in returning to this high point in time, place, and of feeling...

DSD

"Of Means And Ends....."

In the midst of all the anticipation and preparation, I needed some quiet to focus for a few moments... Some simple reflections to connect with, understand, then muse over and express here some thoughts - before heading out there upon one of my greatest challenges yet...

Any trail may be a path.

Any river can be the way.

Every climb could be our journey.

Each coastline might be our quest.

Any canyon is a crossroad.

All summits are subtle pilgrimages.

Our means and ends...

Such sources for spirit and synergy.

Every moment a mentor.

Every experience an elder.

Are we listening?

Am I ready?

Time to go.....

DSD

My thanks to G. Dixon for the above contemplative images.

"The Stone You Now Have In Your Hand..."

I've been reflecting on a recent email from Duncan C., where he commented on how the 'Stone he now found in his hand' was to carry some significant symbolism for him. Thank you Duncan, for prompting these musings for me.

I have before, been provided such wonderful comments regarding these little cobblestones, about while they are just rocks, they often become something elementally more - in what 'Finders' create for themselves in the experience of discovering one...

That 'Finders' simply have a smile on their faces, and to know a little karma has been passed forward, is often enough for me. But 'Finders' are very right, I often ponder too, as each and every one of the stones you may now have in your hand indeed has its own history, its own character, and truly its own story...

I have gathered these for decades, from wild places so far away, within certain elusive locations out there that seem to have very special elements present. They have typically been polished, not by me, but by the millenia, and the storms, winds, and waters that work a certain magic upon them.

In the early years, they were all placed by my hands, and now just as often are passed forward in a summit registry, to another adventurer, or in a distant established campsite, by Partners In Placing (who I write about in a link on this blog). Passing them forward as my Friends do, means these little stones have an added specialness about them, another component of character to their history...

It is not only the unique geologic compositions, nor their wonderful elementally polished feel they have - but also mixed in almost always now, are other things too... Read my post from January 25, 2010 on "Mixing In", to unveil those secrets within the stone now in your hand too...

But most importantly, as can be seen in a certain light, reflected off the coating I paint upon them, you will find something else as well... There, very subtly, you can see a reflection of yourself, the amazing spirit you brought with you, the wonderful adventure attitude you now have, as you have journeyed out among the wild places, and now can create other personal meanings for this little stone that is now yours.....

DSD

My gratitude to our Hiking Lady for the lower image above: http://hikinglady.com/