Discovery~ 5:50pm

Last night I made a dashing trip for a box that we'd missed previously. A couple months ago Zoe, Paula and I had tried for this location and couldn't find it...to the tune of 3 hours of aggravation. Turned out the clues were slightly off due to quick planting during a rainstorm. With fresh clues burning a hole in my boxing bag, and the knowledge that nobody had yet logged it as found, I decided to make a late afternoon run with high hopes of the illusive First Finder. If I hurried I'd arrive there about 5:15, a good 45 minutes before dark.

I found the box, agonizingly close to the location we searched last time. And, I do mean VERY close....sowwwy P. :-( But I found it, snapped some pictures, and left with just enough light to get back to my van.

That walk back to the van was MARVELOUS. Two squirrels stopped runing aROUND and aROUND and aROUND to stare at me for a moment, only to resume running aROUND. Off to my left I heard a russle, froze, and saw out of the corner of my eye a deer standing almost hidden in the sparse brush down in a gulley. One step... freeze... stare at me.... slowly put the foot down. One step.... freeze... stare at me.... Naturally the movement of my camera left me only with a flash of white tail. I rounded an area of bush to find the largest flock of robins I'd ever seen feeding amongst the early spring grass. With a WHOOOSH they were gone, but only up into the trees where they clearly thought they were hidden. The golden areas of setting sun picked out the flag on the firepole, and the tops of the trees so brightly it almost looked like autumn for a few minutes. And then, suddenly, it was gone. The sun was down, the bird calls hushed, and the world was quiet. I realized that I had been standing there, in the middle of the grassy area by my van, holding my breath.

It was about that point that I remembered to breathe and realized at the same time a truth somehow forgotten. I'm a sunset kinda gal. It's another gift from letterboxing to my soul-- the reminder that sunset is GLORIOUS. It's a gift from the world to anyone who will stop long enough and accept it. It only lasts a few minutes, but in that time the world changes. That hour leading up to sunset is my golden time...the time of the day when I feel the best, think the clearest, and somehow feel most connected. Boxing has given me that back by reminding me to be there, to listen, to take it, to accept that I can stop moving long enough to give that to myself. The picture above is from that unbelievable few minutes touched with liquid light and warmth before the sun is gone.

Every time I hike now, I try to remember that I'm doing it for my health. I'm doing it to lose weight, and to live longer, and I try to think about the people in my life that will hopefully have more time with me because of it. This hike was for Uncle Dave- his birthday was this week and I think he'd enjoy seeing this little place from South Carolina history that's being preserved. More hiking tomorrow, and another dedication to think about while walking........