i've got rhythm, i've got music, i've got my girl. who could ask for anything more?

when death comes like an iceberg between the shoulder blades, I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering; what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness? And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood, and I look upon time as no more than an idea, and I consider eternity as another possibility, and I think of each life as a flower, as common as a field daisy, and as singular, and each name a comfortable music in the mouth tending as all music does, toward silence, and each body a lion of courage, and something precious to the earth. Mary Oliver

Morning,

It was another mild day on Mt. LeConte. The high was 36. The low was 27. It was 31 and clear at observation. Phil saw his shadow, so we have another brutal 6 weeks of winter. I don't know if I can make it. I almost had to put on a shirt to go running yesterday. Brrr!

I can't believe there's only 4 more weeks of 'winter' caretaking left! I've been too focused on what is coming next (at section hikes, where I'll be inspector of wildflowers and/or snowstorms next, the freedom of the open road, the incomparably congenial warmth of seeing old friends etc.) that the passage of time has slipped by me like a thief in the night. I'd be a poor night sentry, as my head is perpetually in the clouds. A wise man once said, Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.

Top photo: Sun peeking through red pines. Above: Sunset at Cliff Tops.

Sunset near Cliff Tops.