HIKING MAKES ME HAPPY

(Copyright ©2011 TheBigCandMe)

"The trail has taught me much. I know now of the varied voices of the coyote — the wizard of the mesas. I know the solemn call of herons and the mocking cry of the loon. I remember a hundred lovely lakes, and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir and cedar and poplar trees. The trail has strung upon it, as upon a thread of silk, opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets. It has given me blessed release from care and worry and the troubled thinking of our modern day. It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful.  Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and benumbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me — I am happy." 
–Hamlin Garland (1860-1940), from "Hitting the Trail," McClure's Magazine, February 1899

(Copyright ©2011 TheBigCandMe)

Hiking makes me happy too. The trails are where I go to find and make my peace with "The Big C." Coyotes and saffron sunsets? You bet. Deer and dogs and bunnies too. I love 'um all.