It was a stunningly beautiful start to the day yesterday and I decided to treat myself to a trail. Once the cats were fed, I grabbed my cameras and headed off to Circle B and I got there just around 7:30.
It was going to be a warm one and I figured it would be good to get some distance down before the heat began to encroach on the day. Plus by getting there that early, I was likely to find myself alone for most of the journey, which is what I wanted.
There was a moment (similar to a few weeks ago) where I encountered a divergent path and this time the choice was between a dry gravel covered path and a seemingly soaked path that really begged for waders rather than the Reeboks I had on.
I stood there for a moment dreading the prospect of getting cold wet feet, but eager to see what lay in the trees and bushes beyond. So I grabbed both cameras firmly and took a leap beyond the immediate puddle. I would like to say that my sprightly young leap easily made it to dry land but I didn’t and for the rest of my journey, I was accompanied by a pair of wet feet and ten squelchy toes.
Even if the puddle hadn’t gotten me, the rest of the trail would have. The grasses were soaked in dew and the ground soft from seasonal rains.
But as it turns out, it was the dew that created (in my opinion, anyway) the best pictures of the day as it added a wonderful succulence to the webs, leaves, and wildflowers along the way. I hope you like these pics; I have my own definite favorites.
Once I got home, showered and changed, the comfort of my desk as I browsed through the images allowed me to commend my decision-making and reinforced the old adage that sometimes it is right to take the road less traveled.
But my thought process extended beyond that, because it isn’t enough to just choose your own direction away from the herd. Sometimes you have to step off the beaten track, step out of your comfort zone, and risk getting your feet wet.
It won’t always yield the right result … there are many times when all you will end up with is wet feet!
But then there will also be times when you find something special, experience something that you otherwise might not have, or just find yourself in an altogether better place.
A whole industry has developed in “risk management”, we each know people who go out of their way to reduce the risk associated with anything they do. At every turn, most people seek to be safe and secure … personally, financially, professionally.
Even the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “risk” from a totally negative perspective: “Risk: possibility of loss or injury”.
So, it is no surprise that we see risk as something negative. We have been preconditioned to do so.
And while I am not advocating throwing all caution to the wind and leaping carefree off tall buildings, I am saying that sometimes it is risk that leads us somewhere special.
There are few guarantees in life. Each of our lives reaches the same conclusion.
But along the way we each have an opportunity to explore and when we do, the journey becomes significantly more interesting.
Have a wonderful week and if presented with the opportunity, let your toes get wet. Chances are, you have some dry socks at home, anyway.
