It is the hottest day of the year, a modest breeze cools my skin as I sit under the shade of a fragrant juniper, high clouds filter the sun, a gift from the sacred, the scent of pine and sage and the musk of deer and elk and the coming rain mix to form a indescribable scent that is palatable, it is tasted on the tongue like a divine fruit, and I am blessed.

The view, ancient hills eroded over millennia, alive, always changing, high bluff, rolling hill, dense wood, biting grass, barren wasteland, every step a new view, a living vista, each step a new chance to lose myself in its beauty, it’s miracle, and I am amazed.

Music plays from a small speaker I keep in my pack, the songs soft and quiet, from a playlist named “infinite”, reminding me of you, of every second we spent together, every laugh and tear, every soft kiss and passionate night, every step on every path we walk together, and I am happy.

The trembling of my muscles, silly old man hiking in the badlands on the hottest day of the year with a thirty-five pound pack on his back, the super oxygenated blood, result of deep breath, rushing through vein and artery and capillary, feeding every cell, every atom, with life, and I am grateful.

It is a good day.

Image by JMGreff

Published by J M Greff

J M Greff is the rambling author, trucker philosopher, peace loving hippie, spiritual warrior, backpacking pantheist, wandering minstrel, and poet fool who created A Caravan of One for you. View all posts by J M Greff