Down dates and Up dates 2

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Hiking the local ridges and valleys this spring has been both a great joy -- and a hard reminder of how long certain muscles have been idle. Fortunately, my mentor has been patiently leading me up and down at least once a week, my close college friend has encouraged me to do so once or twice more, and I have managed to find the willpower to do a few well-traveled paths on my own.

Yet to be seen --  whether I will be able climb higher than the eastern mountains allow, and from a higher starting point.  For the moment, I'm content to enjoy the beauty of the Shenandoah Mountains and their neighbors.

Here's some photos from a few of my hikes that were easy enough that I could take time to pull my camera out of my pack. The ridge photos are from the Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland, and the waterfall photos are an inadequate sample of the twenty-one works of natural art at Ricketts Glen in Pennsylvania. The canal reflecting the redbud trees is at the C&O National Park, on the Maryland side of Great Falls.

Several good friends have mentioned how much more relaxed I have become since I shook the City's dust off my boots, and have suggested that my place is in the country. They may be right -- but I recall leaving a small town behind many years ago, and my approach to life hasn't changed that much.

It is true that I have always found peace in the trees, away from the crowds. It's not home, though -- too confining.

Even when it angers me, change is what calms my spirit.

Which is why I wander.