Ruminator

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography Today I had a truly spiritual experience.  Once again my mind and soul felt the need to get out among the trees, so off I went.  My church of choice today was Mt. St. Francis, and the congregation consisted of just one ….. me! I started at 8 am in the fog.  The temperature was hovering around freezing but for me, the air was truly refreshing.  I filled my lungs with the cool air and like always my head began to clear.  I decided today to go the opposite direction of my normal trek, having the rising sun at my back instead of in my eyes.   As I left my car and began my way toward the lake, I was quickly reminded of the temperature as I began sliding on the paved pathway due to some freezing fog.  As I was still recovering from a recent fall I decided to move off the path and walk in the grass.  The crunching under my feet from the frozen grass was not a sound I particularly cared for, but soon I was at the lake and began my hike on a previously muddy, b

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography On the way home from hiking yesterday I heard the song Hotel California by the Eagles.  A line in that song stated, “We are all just prisoners here of our device.”  That got me thinking how true that statement is for me and one of the main reasons I hike.  I recently have seen people retire from Humana and wondered what that feeling must be like as I walk out the door one last time of my own accord.  I have the perfect wife, awesome son, good job, a good home and am in relatively good health but like most I have stress.  That line of that song sums up how I and many of us often feel.  For me, that song means  we are all prisoners by our means .  We weren’t tricked into our life situations by anyone else; if we were tricked at all, we tricked ourselves.  Our plan put us where we are.  So the stress of life (bills, raising children, our job, relationships, etc.) is a result of our plan.  Yea there are factors we cannot control, but we can control how we

Photo by: Tim Bindner Photography After a short week at work and some planning on my part I was set and ready to hit the trails.  Throughout the week I had confirmations from fellow hikers that eventually all fell through.  I decided Sunday morning I need to get out so I did. I arrive at Mt. St. Francis at 9 am on a 17-degree morning.  As crazy as you think I am, I saw 3 runners, 2 walkers, and 2 dogs already heading out on the trails ahead of me. I hopped out of my car, threw on my jacket, hat, backpack, and gloves.  I checked the map, started my Garmin watch, grabbed the camera and off I went.  Like a few times before I headed down the gravel path past the water tower and on to a narrow dirt path.  To the left was a field of tall grass and to the right a dense patch of forest.  I proceed forward and eventually hit the trailhead of Trail 11. As I entered the woods and started my descent down the path it was like I walked through a waterfall.  I could feel the stress immediately start