this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.

This then remains: Remember to retire into this little territory of thy own, and, above all, do not distract or strain thyself, but be free, at look and things as a man, as a human being, as a citizen, as a mortal. But among the things readiest to thy hand to which thou shalt turn, let there be these, which are two. One is that things do not touch the soul, for they are external and remain immovable; but our perturbations come only from the opinion which is within. The other is that all these things, which thou seest, change immediately and will no longer be; and constantly bear in mind how many of these changes thou hast already witnessed. The universe is transformation; life is opinion. Marcus Aurelius

Top photo, above & below: Sunset at Cliff Tops 1/18.

_Morning,

It was another mild day on Mt. LeConte. The high was 34. The low was 18. It was clear in the morning, then cloudy much of the day. The ice on Alum was the worst that I have seen yet. Be sure to use extreme caution or bring your traction devices. It's very foggy right now and the forecast is calling for more rain on the weekend.

If you're as curious as I am about where all the snow went, my friend Dick sent me this link. My head trusts NASA, but in my heart I'll still doing my snow dances and hoping February turns into a 100 inch snowpocalypse.

As I watch the sun set, I am forced to reflect on whether this is reality or a projection of all my minds' wants & desires neatly met in some kind of alternate state. When I finally determine that this is indeed reality (old habit), I wonder if I can store up this kind of beauty. I hope that I can pull it out of my back pocket at a time of desperation, gather strength and equanimity from it; learn to be a better man when I remember the gifts that the universe has given to me and somehow return them in kind.

These colors are always more impressive in person.

Haven't seen anything like this before.

I love winter sunsets.