graywanderings

The Magic of Age

Posted on June 5, 2023 by mlgray

Headed Northwest to Washington, my best friend from junior high guided me on a walk to one of the finest forests … an old growth Ponderosa grove. Cared for and stewarded by generations of different cultures, these trees stand with grace and the presence of stature that makes it no secret they have seen centuries pass. I marvel and admire them for just a few short hours, soak in the surrounding fresh air they’ve created, contemplate details and subtleties in their textures, and consider moving there, to sit beneath those giants day after day. Alas, all I can do in the end though, is gather up their wisdom, and walk away from their harmony, back into the chaos of the lesser world.

Posted in Nature E.M., Wandering Wisdoms | Tagged old growth trees, ponderosa grove, trees | Leave a comment

The Sound of a Tree

Posted on April 16, 2023 by mlgray

I assume that once hollowed, there comes a moment when the structure can no longer hold. And in a flash, the tree explodes and crumbles, crashes to the ground and shatters into sound. I assume. Because as the proverbial tree falls, I was not there to hear it.

But maybe in this way, I can at least honor its last moment, and pay homage to this cottonwood. I can celebrate it for welcoming a Bald Eagle I watched land on its branches 3 different times. I can appreciate the shade it provided to many picnickers at the table below it. I can’t share my gratitude for prompting my curiosity, and making me wonder about this momentary, massive event.

What did it sound like in that final moment?

Posted in Different Modes of Exploration, Nature E.M., Wandering Wisdoms | Tagged falling trees, sound in the forest falling trees, trees | Leave a comment

Newness Invokes the Beginner’s Mind

Posted on March 31, 2023 by mlgray

What more needs to be said than simply that; newness invokes the beginner’s mind. And it is that beginner’s mind that lights up when we travel, triggers synapses and dopamine responses, fuels creativity, fires up the hot savor of life. Walking through a new ecosystem of unfamiliar trees and fungi, reminiscent but different bird song, familiar waves reaching the shore with a shift in melody and rhythm, textures that feel like a distant home. I gaze at these vistas and details for hours. I wander these shores and hillsides for miles. I look up at the spinning dazzle of trees until my neck hurts. I look down at the nuance until I’m mesmerized. And yet days later, we’ll leave it behind, board a boat, and head on to the next newness on the horizon

Posted in Conversations on Travel, Different Modes of Exploration, Nature E.M., Nature Photo Journal Collection, On the Road in America, On the Trail, Travel, Wandering Wisdoms | Tagged Beginner's Mind, Orca's Island, Trails | 3 Comments

Always in Memory

Posted on March 7, 2023 by mlgray

I assume there are places we hold in our mind’s eye, in our heart’s adoration, for as long as our life will allow. Whether from the remarkable beauty of that place, or the repetition of our return to a certain view again and again, places imprint on us. Instead of newness and beginner’s mind, we sense again: age, perspective, maybe even wisdom, from the known and familiar. We return to our childhood in a blink, layer over it our youth and adulthood, and add on all the different moments at that rock, and all the people that stood there with us. This palimpsest makes a beautiful place all the more incredible.

And so as we continue on to the next vista, we are always called back by the siren of memory.

Posted in Conversations on Travel, Different Modes of Exploration, Nature E.M., Nature Photo Journal Collection, On the Road in America, On the Trail, Travel, Virtues of Travel, Wandering Wisdoms | Tagged Indian Canyons, Memory, Places and Vistas | Comments Off

Winter’s Arrival

Posted on January 31, 2023 by mlgray

This gallery contains 7 photos.

As winter arrives, I am reminded of its unique beauty. The distinct whites and blues and yellows of the season. A coyote crossing the frozen waters of an urban lake. The patterns and textures of snow across grasses. The shapes … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Tagged Hiking, seasonal shifts, winter | Leave a comment

Newness

Posted on December 11, 2022 by mlgray

I often have the same thought landing and walking somewhere new: all my life this has gone on here. Waves have rolled onto this coast; the wind has whipped against these trees; families have driven up this dirt road and camped here, right on this beach where I dig my toes into the sand. And I knew nothing, if anything, about its existence. I had no clue that the clouds patterned in this way, or the water made that sound across the sand and shells, and yet it went right along without me. Is that why I strive endlessly to see every bend in the road, every corner of the map? To have a mental picture of all that goes in this gigantic world. What a fool’s errand. What a delightful pursuit.