"In The Quieter Moments....."

Of course, there is the endless wonder among the summits, the thrills of the rafting, the intensity of lowering into those deep canyons, the anticipation of beaching our kayaks on an untouched coastal island. Countless special times of exhilaration, and excitement; so crystalline and amazing in their intensity and memory. Of course, they are very much a major 'why we do what we do' in our wild place adventures...
Yet, we very much know, we feel deeply too, that when we pause in between such wonderful stimulus and our euphoric responses, when we linger among those subtle quieter moments - that we just as often touch upon other elements within our longings, and for why these experiences call out to us...
These are the softer seconds, those more gentle moments of rest and repose, like when after our summit has been achieved, and we simply sit quietly within our elation, then surprisingly find that we may have tears too upon our smiling faces...
There are those slow pleasurable peaceful times, among the eddies of a river, even as the waters continue their fast journey, where we find a stillness among all this motion, and sense something else profoundly there too...
These are the moments within the calm we feel after the adrenalin has passed, once that cliff face has been climbed, and while our muscles and mental focus are still so resonating from all the energy and excitement. We notice an unruffled peace of mind there as well, even while still on the very edge of it all...
There is a deep tranquility that we touch then too as our sea kayak begins to slow , just before we beach, at the end of a very long day of wind & big waves, and endless paddling - finally, so finally, on that secluded coastal island, so far it seems from everything else...
These are our motionless moments out there. Among whatever trails and paths we have chosen, as we realize we are free from so much, and more free to do and feel and experience and then to know so much more, even without trying so hard...
Then there is that very special silence, of the deepest undisturbed desert canyon, or after those wild summer storms, or in the middle of a truly crisp cold winter night, or after the stirred ocean settles, or atop the apex of the peak of our most elusive summit. A silence that is so compelling, so very embracing, that it quietly, softly, speaks a language of its own to our heart, our spirit, our very being...
There is also the soothing sensation when resting in our sleeping bag, within the shelter of a tent, among the gear we each have carried, knowing the modest comfort of managing this small world we each have chosen to journey in...
There are the moments after the rainstorm and thunder, after so many days out on a long distance trek, on that last bit just before the trailhead, when the breeze of a quiet wind caresses our own and our partners faces - and when we share a smile much later across the warmth of a campfire...
So many beautiful, subtle sensations of quiet moments and memory.
So many eternal seconds of soothing stillness.
Patiently, quietly, awaiting for our return.
A very happy new year to you all my Friends..... DSD