Old One

Old One
Originally uploaded by c'estbonne

Today is Thanksgiving, and I've realized something about gratitude – it invites you to slow down. To practice it consciously requires taking a moment, creating a space, to become truly mindful of the things you're thankful for. The close link between gratitude, patience and love becomes apparent when I see it this way.

Creating this space also allows the "giving" part to travel both ways, out from you and into you. This small gem of insight revealed itself on the hike I took along this trail.

I'd chosen a ridgetop trail I'd only been to once before, thinking autumn was the perfect time for a far-reaching view of the valleys and lake, and that this was probably the last time I'd make it into the mountains this year. But as I climbed to elevation, I discovered low cloud banks enveloping the world in a thick grey fog, obscuring almost all but what was immediately in front of me.

I was struck by the beauty, though – the saturation of moisture-rich colors, crimson, gold, green, brilliant against the soft grey air. And the quiet sense of intimacy that fog always brings, so that even when you're on a mountaintop, you're in a cozy room of your own, a perfect setting for reflection and introspection.

So I continued for a while along the ridge, colors and shapes speaking their poetry along the trail, and off to the right, a sloping drop-off into nothing but clouds, where I could feel the valley beyond.

The day was chilly though, and when I reached a point where I was ready to turn around and head back, I paused, and stood for a few moments, watching a busy mountain chickadee in a young fir tree. I let myself drift off, enjoying his antics, the closeness of the world and this tiny spark of wildlife nearby. And suddenly, I discovered that all the clouds had lifted without my realizing it, uncovering a deep green valley speckled with gold larches and the deep presence of Lake Pend Oreille in the background – the entire vista, like a gift from the Universe that I had paused just long enough to receive.

May you find beauty in the smallest of things today, and thanks in the greatest – whether they be mountaintops or the mere miracle of being alive, right here, right now.