Beauty

Yesterday evening I was out on the trail - the sunset was gorgeous - the colors rich, the clouds reflecting light and shadow - the air was cool ... almost chill ... and the birds were calling out their evening songs. It was ... beautiful.

I spent the weekend at Yellowstone - almost three full days driving through the park, stopping often to witness the wildlife, the landscape, the sun .. rain .. snow. It was ... beautiful.

Monday, I spent most of the day touring the lower Big Hole River - I drove through stunning landscapes with the river high and wild below and beside me. It was ... beautiful.

So last night I wondered, as I watched the sunset over the Pintlers and soaked in the experience as fully as possible - can there be so much beauty in my life that it becomes ... common? So that it no longer moves me?

I don't think so. What I came to understand was that this is how it 'should' be. For me, anyway. Surrounded by beauty - bathed in beauty - open and enjoying beauty each and every day. The grand beauty of mountains and rivers ... the tiny beauty of desert wildflowers ... the intimate beauty of a handclasp ... the commonplace beauty of the sparrow.

Here is a segment of the Navajo Night Chant that we've seen so often:

In beauty may I walk.
All day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons may I walk.
On the trailed marked with pollen may I walk.
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk.
With dew about my feet may I walk.
With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty below me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.

And here are a very few of the photos that I took on Sunday morning as the snow fell heavily around us.