Sunrise in Golden Gate Park

I decided to stay in San Francisco for awhile, rather than return home on my scheduled flight.  It is wonderful out here.  I'm taking a Bhagavad Gita course at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center.  I'm finding my experience staying at the Center both uplifting and grounding at the same time.  The added bonus is, I'm in a city made for vegetarians & raw foodists.

This morning we did a silent walking meditation in Golden Gate Park.  It was amazing.  First, I have to say I was very proud of myself to be able to keep up with the other three people (all of whom are much younger, in better physical condition and use to the terrain) we covered a lot of territory - probably about one third of the park.  We started at 6 am and walked to Stow Lake, where we meditated at Huntington Falls and then walked back.  There were only a few joggers and bicyclists out at that hour so it was wonderfully quiet and peaceful.  The only sounds were the crunch of the gravel under our feet, the waterfall and the mallard ducks on the lake - now I will have to admit, they are rather vocal!  The brisk morning fog felt like a mist of rain on my face, it was like a kiss from God.  The air is so clean and fresh from all the trees I just wanted to drink in as much of it as I could.  Walking to the lake it was dark, and as we passed the Academy of Science building, the hanging sculpture of a flock of hawks seemed to come alive in the soft glow of the lights.  Behind the glass facade they were soaring, circling, watching for their next prey.  They were magnificent, especially since I knew  they weren't going to catch any unsuspecting small animal!  Walking back, the sun had come up so I was able to take everything in, since we weren't talking or otherwise distracted.  Walking past trees so large I couldn't begin to reach even halfway around them was awe inspiring.  The ground is covered with nasturtiums with leaves as large as saucers.  Of course the squirrels had my attention, I just love watching them run and play without a care in the world.  Taking the time to remove the distractions and really let ourselves experience the wealth of natural beauty that surrounds us is just overwhelming.  It is so gratifying to stop and realize just how fortunate we really are if we simply choose to recognize it.  Well, that certainly started my day off wonderfully, I hope yours is the same.  Remember you can have a fabulous day if you choose to.