After church today, my wife and I went to one of our favorite local places for lunch. The kids were away, and so we had quiet to ourselves. We got home and walked the dogs. She walked Lady down the road and I took Brewster for a jaunt in the woods and down by the creeks. Then I hit the trail for a few miles after the sun burned the clouds away.

Ascending the hills, a group of joyriders on four-wheelers sped up the ridge behind me, loudly climbing their way to the perches above.

I kept ascending another half mile or so and again I heard the group. They had a loud speaker blaring at the rocky perches at the top. I took a spur to the north and could see out. A flock of vultures threw shadows on the trail. I’d passed a rotting deer carcass down by the creek earlier that Brewster sniffed out. Perhaps the vultures were circling that, I was not sure.

Walking the spur the rocks were slick at times with bright moss.

Thankful for day one of 2023. Grateful for simple pleasures. Cognizant of beauty and aiming to steward well.