the overdue blog

so i haven't kept up with my blog, i know. i'm sorry. but here it is, the overdue blog. what i'm about to share with you i have been processing in my heart for a week now. not telling anyone. somethings i just enjoy thinking about on my own. and now after pondering this thought for a full 7 days, i'm prepared to share it with you. sort of prepared that is. i'm a little nervous about how it will come out. will you understand? i'm not editing this thing, this is no book...just my blog, raw format biscuet. i hope you enjoy. and i hope this short tap into my heart and thought process helps you. here's the story.
Last weekend i was at one of my favorite places in the world, the beautiful blue ridge mountains of western north carolina. some of you reading this have breathed the freshness of that place and know full well what i'm talking about...other's of you have only heard stories. nonetheless, you can still fully engage in this story without having been there before. on this particular night last week i was with 2 guys who had never been there before either and they were eager to camp and fully enjoy the beauty of this place. i know the perfect place for them to camp. it's the only place to camp if you're a first timer to this place. we've eaten dinner and made a few stops. we made a few casts at some rising trout on a mountain pond. no luck on this night. it's dark now, and it's time to show these guys where they're camping. we park the car, they get their gear and i throw on a light jacket to keep me warm enough to show them the camping spot and get back to the car. we start walking and i'm the only one without a flashlight. both of the other guys have flashlights so i position myself so that one person with a light is in front of me and the other is behind me. i thought this would help light the path so i could walk without a light. it didn't help. i was tripping over every root and boulder on the path. oh yeah...i'm in flip flops. so we keep walking and these guys keep asking me how much further, and because i have no perception of distance, my only answer is consistently, "we're almost there." so we keep walking...well, they keep walking, i keep tripping and trying to maintain my balance in the darkness. then it dawns on me, this trail is wide enough for two. so i catch up with the guy in front of me and now i'm using his light so i can see, it's working out beautifully, no more tripping and wondering where the next boulder will be. these guys have no idea where we're going. in their heads we're just walking. i want them to be excited though so i'm talking to them about this place where they're camping. i tell them how awesome it is. "just wait until the morning, you are not going to want to leave this place when you see where i've taken you." they have no idea what awaits them in the morning. then it hits me, this is life. things are really hard when you're not walking with the light. i'm constantly tripping and watching every step. but when the light is with me and beside me then things are a little better, i can enjoy the journey more and laugh more and look up into what's ahead of me instead of what's at my feet trying to trip me. and if we can just keep walking and wait a little longer, a new dawn is coming...and the view will be spectacular, and we won't want to ever leave that place.