Another beautiful day of living

"Thank you for another beautiful day of living!"

Sometimes I wake up by shouting these words out to the sunbathed mountains, birds and forest around me. Sometimes I wake up just thinking these words quietly over and over in my head.

Even if I had access to all the languages in the world, I still wouldn't know how to fully describe all the sights I've seen, emotions I've felt, and people I've come to know over the last number of months.

My mind wanders through the snipits shuffling past in my memory:

-The roar of a calving glacier as it crashes into a blue velvet lake

-Long, latenight conversations

-Glowing amber sunrises on Fitz Roy

-A nightly communion with the Southern Cross, O'rion and the moon

-Wind so strong it literally knocked me over

-Sunsets painted with a pallet of 1,000 colors on whispy, cottony clouds

-Spending nearly 20 hours in my tent... reading, sleeping, thinking... as the rain and wind tormented ferociously

-Delighful and numerous invitations for coffee, lunch, whisky or a good joke from "strangers."

-Watching condors ride wind currents, foxes weave through shrubs, and hares hop out of sight

-The sensation of timelessness; and inspiration for life

-Standing at the base of rock spires... massive cliff faces piercing the air... and feeling small

-The smile plastered onto my face

-Pulling myself over a glacial river on a tirolian traverse