It’s day two of the new year. Yesterday, I stepped out into the great unknown of 2025. One day. Relatively uneventful. The big news was the first day hike at The Great Falls of the Potomac. I have now seen the falls on four rivers – the Niagara, the Sioux, the Pedernales, and the Potomac. And I have walked along two named river gorges. The Potomac and the Rio Grande. Not bad.

Setting out, I had no firm idea what I was going to see. I’d been there as a lad, but that was more than 65 years ago. When we arrived, the day was cold and gray, and things felt dim and slightly underwhelming. But the sun soon peaked out from behind the clouds, the river sparkled, and the walk took us back into history, man-made and geologic. Nature filled me up as nature always fills me up.

And it got me thinking. What if I could live every day as I lived this day, as a slow, measured step. There was a plan. Sort of. Anticipation was muted. Expectations moderated. In the end, I judged what I got by what it was, and I was happy to have done it, especially in the company of my family. In my life, I think I’ve spent too much time trying to beat the world into submission. A better approach might be, especially at my late stage in life,  to take each day as a slow, easy step. To look ahead, to desire, but to enjoy the day for what it is rather than what I want it to be. It makes gratitude much easier to come by and if I’ve learned anything from my time on the trail it’s that getting in a hurry is when I slip and fall.