i went down, down, down and the flames went higher.

When I was very young and the urge to be someplace was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked.... In other words, I don’t improve, in further words, once a bum always a bum. I fear the disease is incurable. John Steinbeck

Morning,

It was another mild day yesterday. The high was 40. The low was 19. It was 37 and clear at observation. It looks like it'll be another great day today. Beware of ice on the trails, as it is sneakily hiding under a thin layer of snow right now.

I sat out near Cliff Tops for a few hours last night. Initially, I was out there for duty's sake - to fulfill my bloggy obligations at sunset. As things tend to happen amongst this majesty, I ended up feeling an ineffable calling to stay out. So I stuck around for the elusive, possibly mythical 2nd act - bobkitten viewing.

I sat as still as possible in the field where tracks are most prominent. I recall statues I've seen in Buddhist monasteries for inspiration - so still & serene. The moonlight creeps in dramatic ways through the trees. The tranquility that is only possible out here envelops me. It is not silence. It is an absence, a void. Not of noise, but of distraction. It amplifies the relevant sounds - the gentle breeze, trees straining in the distance. A mouse runs across the trail. At least I know that Bobkitten's food comes this way. As the full moon approaches, Bobkitten will do more hunting at night. I hope.

Top photo: Cliff Tops & West Point from Alum Cave trail. Above: The moonrise.