"Happy New Years..."

A very happy New Years to you all!

"A Very Happy Holidays To You All 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! 

"Later Adventure Year Lingerings..."

A long ways back, after often finding myself the last one up, I slowly began learning of the wonderful moments to be discovered in also being the last one off, or the last one down, even the last one to launch depending on the kind of adventure day. 
Here was the experience, the natural lessons, when learning to linger out there.
Like within those special minutes when we put off the departure of our sea kayaks from finally leaving those secluded distant coastal islands.
Many of us also want to drag out those cherished moments upon an elusive summit, as so much has been given to get us up there.
The protracted time in a desert canyon becomes precious beyond words too, so we stay as long as we can amidst the eternities present there.
It all seems so natural. We can't wait to get out there, and are also then reluctant to come back. Kind of as I find myself moving even more slowly at the end of an adventure day, not only because of my age and an earned tiredness, but much more so as I don't want to leave that wild place just yet...
I want to grasp, and embrace more closely, all the lingering perceptions and emotions that have been gifted to us on our journeys.
For such determined, disciplined, and goal oriented adventurers that we all can be at times - there is such a positive tardiness we can also practice too. We are so wonderfully, naturally, paradoxical at times aren't we my Friends..... DSD 
Thank you once more for sharing your timeless images my Friends.
Dedicated this adventure day to all those who are Adventuring For Another Reason this season.

"Untold Treasures..."

"We must not fall into the trap of waiting so long

for the big things,

that we let numerous small chances slip right by us.

Sometimes,

if we would lower our sights a bit,

we would see all the beautiful oppotunities

swirling at our feet.

If we would but humble ourselves

enough to bend down,

we could scoop up untold treasures,

into our hands...".

Deng Ming-Dao

"A Farther Kind Of Gift..."

P. Stoltz & E. Weihenmayer said of some gifts: "May adversity become the pathway through which you flourish." S. Covey wrote also; "One key lesson is this: no challenge and adversity, no deeper sense of meaning and gifts of purpose."

"Simply Profound Appreciations..."

"Appreciation,

makes immortal,

all that is best and beautiful.

It also exalts the true beauty of that which is beautiful.

It strips the veil of familiarity,

from the world,

and lays bare and naked sleeping beauty,

which is in the spirit of the forms of appreciation..."

P.B. Shelley

"New Ways..."

"Our destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things...".

 H. Miller

"So Many Ways To Share And Give..."

"A wise woman who was travelling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. 

The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. 

She did so without hesitation. 

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. 

But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. 

'I've been thinking', he said, 'I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. 

Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone'...". 

Anon

"No Matter How Small..."

"Acts of kindness:

A random act of kindness,

no matter how small,

can make a tremendous impact on someone else's life...".

Roy T. Bennet

"Giving And Gathering..."

"The heart that gives, gathers...". Tao Te Ching  

"We Who Adventure..."

We who adventure.
We seek and we quest, we wander and we journey.
So very far, up so high, for long enduring awe filled days.
Then we each seem to discover, the forever moments far beyond the elements, within our adventures way, way out there.
These, then, also become wonderous treasures within...
To be truly among the elements, is to become elemental ourselves.
To be as...
Resilient as stone and rock.
Enduring as the endless ocean waves.
Forever committed as the sun.
Persistent as all the winds.
To be as...
Wise and knowing as desert canyons.
Eternally strong as the glacial ice.
Quietly reflective as our campfires.
Lively energetic as the wild ones.
To be as...
Flexible as any winding river.
As far seeing as our chosen mountain summit.
Open and welcoming as a coastal island.
Sustaining as our northern lakes.
To be as...
Beautifully enlightened as the flickering stars.
Forever sharing as the revealing moonlight.
And as giving as the essence discovered within each and every wild place..... DSD 

Dedicated to you all my Dear wandering Friends, and to my so appreciated Partners In Placing who pass forward many smiles along the way.