Our daughter is home for a couple of weeks before her move, in order to learn how to drive, something she’s put off for as long as possible. She’s picking destinations for practicing this, so besides getting all sorts of errands finally done, she’s planned some drives to places we haven’t yet been to explore, hike, and eventually plein air paint.

This was one of those excursions, a hike more rigorous than we expected, with our first elevation gain – and bugs– of the season. Fortunately, we left early and were done before it got really hot midday. If I’m going to work that hard, I want some pay off at the top, like a great view maybe. No such thing here. Only intense GREEN everywhere, along with some gurgling water (listen to this short video clip here).

The benefit is that I settled in and started to look more closely, which is always a good exercise. It is amazing what you see when you do that. Lots of toads, for example. And I’m always interested in abstract composition, and there was a lot of that if you set your eyes to be attuned to it. As usual I find myself appreciating an attitude of mindfulness, with attentiveness to nature and abstract composition.

Take this hike with me in these photos below, and I encourage you to take your own mindfulness treasure hunt as well.