"Imagine..."

What if we each did just one thing? What a gift this would be.

What if we each took just one step towards understanding our individual role in supporting the natural world we adventure in.

Decided upon one small effort to maintain and preserve the natural environment.

For one time our energy is expended for something or someone else. 

Or even one moment given for support and encouragement of another seeker within the wild lands.

These represent a different kind of generosity; one that is more about practicing a simpler kind of charity.

I've mused many times regarding how it's not just about each of us, on our own.

Rather, it is more about all of us, and even more so, about our stewardship for these special wild places.

I've pondered how adventures are not just about a focus upon an objective.that it can also be about a gesture, a very different way to expend energy, a reflection of a certain kind of effort.

And then it is only a matter of letting this simple kind of philanthropy ride the wave of its own momentum.

The impacts can be immeasurable...

This is not really about doing 'yet one more thing'.

Often it is only making such efforts part of the adventure experiences we are there for anyway.

We hike and paddle long distances one hour at a time, and are very amazed when we look back and see the distance we have covered and the height we have attained.

We journey for many days and are in wonder as we reflect on the experience and how much terrain and how many emotions we have traveled through.

If I can give back one small thing, then anyone can, and if anyone can, just imagine what could happen with just one thing.....  DSD   

"Imagine..."

“Imagine in vibrant, wonderful detail your heart’s desire—a reality only you can envision, an adventure only you can direct.
Then cradle your creation. Caress it. Mold it. Coddle it until it comes to life.
And when your precious treasure grows so grand as to steal your breath away, set it free for all the world to experience. For that is how you live your dreams.” 
Richelle Goodrich

"Jonathan Journeys Farther..."

Thank you Jonathan,

for sharing in this adventure journey!

https://summitstonesadventuremusings.blogspot.ca/2007/05/tale-of-two-jonathans.html

https://summitstonesadventuremusings.blogspot.ca/2009/10/adventuring-for-another-reason.html

"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 realize 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 

"For Fur, Feathers, And Fins Friday's..."

"Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way...". John Muir

Just pondering some quotes and gifted images from other adventurers, while I am 'Mixing In' some fine strands and bits of the wild ones fur discovered out wandering these many last seasons. They are often the last elements mixed in with my paints upon these little Summit Stones. I always hope they add to the character of each and feel they tell a story all of their own too. Muir's musing really says it all doesn't it my Friends..... DSD   

"Maps Do Not Just Chart..."

"A map does not just chart.

It unlocks and formulates meaning.

It forms bridges between here and there.

Between disparate ideas, that we did not know,

were previously connected...".

Reif Larson

"Inner Maps..."

H. Lodge wrote of us that, "How can your brain make sense of the staggering, impossible ocean of information that comes our way? The solution is brilliantly simple. Your brain makes maps. And not just a few maps, but maps of everything - thousands of them every second. Physical, social, and intellectual maps streaming in, emotional maps streaming out. To a large extent, you navigate your life from emotional maps".

"Uncharted Territory..."

"Uncharted territory,

I said.

These parts on the maps of our lives, that we don't understand.

In Cartographer's language,

They call these places,

sleeping beauties...".

Christopher Barzak

"Feeling That Way..."

"It had to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles with no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way.”   Cheryl Strayed

"Of Fears & Freedom..."

"On the other side of every fear,

is a freedom...".

Marilyn Ferguson

"Discovering Gifts..."

"Serenity does not cancel hope or adventure, work, or love... It flows through the heart of a landscape... quiet and strong, clear and gentle. Refreshing all we do or dream...". 
Patrick Brown
Serenity, contentment, love, and peace... What gifts we discover as we far adventure... DSD