So I survived birthday month! Got a few more bumps and bruises but I made it. Managed to camp/hike every weekend except on my actual birthday. To say the least I did all the things. Camping in the Eastern Sierras (it was so beautiful with the fall colors and lakes) to camping at the La Jolla Indian reservation then camping in the Anza-Borrego Desert. The best part was doing it all with friends old and new.
Magical moments in nature is what keeps drawing me back out there. The winding creek under a star filled sky, climbing the same hill over and over, a light rain falling on my tent, avoiding poison oak as I scramble down a mountain while people in onesies laugh and dance the night away. Disco camping! Ah, yes Youtopia, San Diego’s regional, it was the best year yet, magic on the mountain. While I was hiking the CDT I wrote this poem regarding the burner/thru hiking community, nature can really ignite your creativity.
Finding My Flame
I am only ordinary
Not special in any way
Not even noticed
As I go on day to day
I went in search
Of something
But the dust made it hard to see
What was truly me
But the voices around me
Said what do you want to be
Confident humble strong
With that
I could not go wrong
From the desert city
To the woods I did flee
There I’d find what eluded me
The path was full of obstacles
Night dark as could be
Yet there was light from
The desert community
A flaming fire
Inspired encouraged
and restored my soul
From sunrise at a fence
To sunset on a mountain
I began to see
What I seek is
Inside of me
Now with the month of November kicking off I am reminded of all the things I planned to do but have not. So it is certainly time for me to reignite the flame. Time to start closing out this year and prep for the next.
wandering chardonnay 