Great Escape

I went snow shoeing this afternoon. I enjoyed taking in the wintery mountain landscape very much. The storm that has past through (Euclid) has dropped nearly 10 inches of snow. Trees bowed under the weight of the heavy snow. I even had to duck the branches that hung over the trail I was hiking.
Out on the mountainside I enjoyed the peacefulness of the wilderness. I was by myself so I had nothing to distract me from the surroundings. I was totally immersed. I had thoughts of times past spent on mountainsides in the winter. And I thought of all that has transpired since the days when I was a skier. The time I took for the hike provided a great escape.
I realize that in the years since I left skiing much has not changed. There is still nothing more peaceful than being in the woods during winter. I have myself not changed in many ways. I am at my root still the same person I have ever been. It seems to me that as we grow we whittle away at our negative characteristics and yet never get rid of them all together. We do in the process allow for our better attributes to flourish. We can not change who we are we can only change how enact ourselves in our lives, communities and relationships.