Where's that Doggone God, Anyway?

Back from a long trip to rural Denmark for some green, green Spring hiking.  As a guy who grew up in a temperate climate but now live in a semi-arid one it was deeply, deeply satisfying to be smack in the middle of all that green.  And because we arrived at the very start of Spring and left as Summer was getting under way we got to see how the green changes from a very light shade, becoming darker and darker, the woods bare and sparse at the start and full and dense at the end.  If you're having trouble connecting with a higher power go take a hike in an isolated place.  It doesn't have to be a long one or a difficult one and you can stop when you start to get tired.  You don't have to get anywhere in particular and take time to stop and listen and look and take a deep whiff of the air.  KK has an app that can identify birds by analyzing their songs and I have one that tells you what kind of tree or plant you're looking at so it's important for us to stop from time to time and see what's growing and listen to what's singing.  Even after one short month listening to birds we'd never heard of before we could start to recognize different species by their song.

And nothing forces me into the moment like traveling.  Everything is new and different so I'm forced into a focused awareness.  How do I do this or that, how do I do everything?  Not a lot of regular chores or routine to follow so I can just be where I am.  I can eat a weird cookie or try to figure out a washing machine in a foreign language or . . . or . . . everything!