On day eight of my nomadic wandering road trip...thing, I set out on a hike through the Superstition Wilderness, one of my old stomping grounds from when I lived here before. (All videos from this trip are being put into my "Nomadic Wandering" playlist).

I set out on this hike in the early morning, the air was still cool and the birds had plenty to talk about as I walked. I stopped many times along my path just to listen--often to the birds, but also to the watery conversation of flowing streams or to the occasional silence I would find in places. I always enjoy a nice solo hike and the solitude and peace it brings, but it was interesting being already several days into this trip I'm on--already flowing within that solitude--and then stepping off for further solitude in the desert like this. It provided a seamless sort of experience that I'm still trying to find the words to describe. I stepped from the quiet solitude of my mind into the quiet solitude of the land. It was as if my days proceeding this hike were preparing me to experience each step on the trail in a very special way. I've hiked these trails many times before, and its always been a good experience, but this hike, on this day, held a unique sort of energy that I won't forget. It makes me wonder how often I'm "missing things" simply because I'm too distracted or because there's too much noise from the "day to day stuff" of life. "Normal life," with all its routines and obligations can easily sweep us off our feet. There's many things about "normal life" that I want in my life, so I'm not willing to simply wander off into the desert forever (although it is tempting), but I do hope to remember some of what I'm discovering after only these 8 days of wandering like this. I'm hopeful that I can integrate some of this into my life beyond this trip. Feeling the ground beneath ones feet--really feeling it--is more precious and rare than we often realize, I think.