Topa Topa

I took another long hike up into the hills today.  I was on the trail for a good four hours and I saw two other people.  One of the encounters was with a dude pedaling a mountain bike up the long ascent; we passed as I was hobbling back down on my sore feet.  We each held up our right hand, palm outward, and left it at that.  Not a word was spoken.  All I could hear the entire time was the sound of the small creek I was following, the wind, and my boots crunching on the trail.

I spent some time thinking but mostly I tried to concentrate on my breath.  Walking meditation.  Wearing myself out physically so whatever bullshit the phantoms who inhabit my head are unspooling can be more easily ignored.   When I reached the crest of the mountain I sat and ate my lunch.  I could see the ocean in the distance and down to the valley floor.  It was really nice, really quiet.

No mountain lions.