Last night, listening to it against the roof tiles and watching it dance in the puddles beneath the street lamp...Rain.  I could have stayed inside. Dry. Headed up to bed and drifted off to sleep...but instead I pulled on my wellies and jacket and went outside into the dusky darkness...for even at 11:30pm it is not truly dark here this time of year.

     I listened to to the drops tap against my hood...until I pushed it back and let them fall against my hair, my upturned face...felt them on my skin flowing downward...heard the sound of them rushing off the greenhouse roof.  Breathed in the scent of peonies mingling with night air and moist soil.

     My senses came alive and I felt the wildness, the wilderness in a place I don't normally think of as either...something about standing in the darkness while everyone else was snuggled up in bed.  There was that sense of adventure and of connection, to something greater, that happens when you step off your usual path and out of your comfort zone.  It is in watching the unknown from afar that we often experience a sense of distance or separateness.  It is in the experiencing that we find unexpected joys, connections, and beauty.

     Adventure and explorations don't have to happen far from home.  What is something you are watching or thinking about rather than experiencing?  What is one step you can take to start exploring?