Morning Glory

Mornings are by far my most favorite part of the day. Don't get me wrong, I love evenings and beautiful sunsets as well as the delicious summer nights (mainly in cold country), but there is something about the newness of the morning. The last several months I have worked a late schedule, which I do not prefer, and though I often am not able to go to bed as early as I'd like, I've still made it a point to awaken early.
This morning Jake and I went on a hike of our own and I was glad we did. The weather was inviting, definitely much cooler than it's been [fall is coming, you can smell it in the air :)]. It was great! It was good 'think' and meditation time.

When you're out in nature it seems a mind is freer to 'think, ponder and wonder' about things often overwhelmed by normal day-to-day routines. Heading up the mountain I decided to take a path which was 'CLOSED.' Hmm... well, I sometimes like to push the boundaries, uh... just curiosity is all. :-/ It seemed the sign must have been misplaced because the hike was beautiful. It went along the 'Tapatio Cliffs' paralleling a road across from the Pointe Hilton Resort. It was beautiful! Uh, well... after a while I got to a section of the trail that was not far from the edge of the cliff and then I remembered this was the trail Kathy and I had taken before (except we came from the opposite direction). We came to a fork, just before the hike by the ledge and I allowed Jake to lead the way, he chose the high road. Whoo... this was a better choice, a lot higher and just above the lower cliff, it was steep, but not next to the ledge. A better choice none-the-less. One wrong step and you might be tonight's dinner special at your local 'Road Kill Café' though. (I wish this picture did the trail justice, trust me, in three dimension, it's much more intimidating. If you don't believe me, come on out.) :)

Like many others, Jake like's to live life on the edge. Any time we walk on a sidewalk or path he will walk on the curb or on the ledge if I'll let him. Uh, not a good thing sometimes, especially when a cliff is a few inches away. :-/ But sometimes I will let him look over. In this picture he had just caught sight of a lizard, one of his favorite things to chase. He likes the rush! Haha. He will settle for a rabbit though if there's one in sight. Needless-to-say, Jake locks his eyes on his prize and no matter where it leads him, he's going to follow the critter. As noted in one of my entries before, this is not always a good idea and has gotten Jake into some prickly places (mainly cactus).

It made me think of us as humans and how we are so often distracted from our path and how our attention and focus may veer from our prize/goal to a temporary 'want.' Probably not a good idea. So I thought... head North, that's a sure direction that never changes.

Another day I'll blog, in detail, as to why I am so intrigued by the COMPASS, NORTH and our JOURNEY.