January 12, 2013 and it was over 60F here today. The perfect day to go exploring, hiking and enjoy the out doors. Obviously the snow melted quickly and with the recent rainfall, there was a lot more water out at the Eternal Flame.

I'm not sure how I like these better - in full color or in monochrome with a diffused glow.

Regardless, I met this day with a lot of energy. I felt blessed simply to be living it. So much energy and enthusiasm for what this day could mean. The effort put into the hike didn't drain me of that energy totally, but it did help me refocus afterward.

On the way home I took some time to appreciate what surrounded me. The beauty and love in my life. Here we all are, with the opportunity to enjoy living in a paradise carved out especially for us. We can make the world anything we want it to be. It is beautiful, and we can make it more beautiful by expressing our love for each other, helping those around us, making the best of each and every day, and of course, making the world a better place.

Instead, we have chosen this path of greed, violence, oppression, hatred and despair.

And we think we've evolved...

How can you not walk through nature, look at what surrounds us and realize, if a heaven awaited us, we've already been given it?