Anyone who knows me well knows that I like to visit natural, beautiful and amazing places on the earth.  I live for it and I never feel as relaxed and comfortable as when I am hiking or spending time immersed in natural beauty. I spend as much of my time as possible researching and traveling to reach those special places.  Our time on this earth is limited and precious. The earth has been around for approximately 4.5 billion years and there is no better place to appreciate the passage of time as when you stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon or witness the beauty of the Canadian Rockies, the vast oceans, or the Utah canyons. The beauty is almost overwhelming and you get a sense that you are standing on the edge of time.

We have visited some very beautiful places over the years with our family. I remember my kids running in the Canadian Rockies on a stop by a stream.  They were young at the time, but with the mountains in the back and the sun shining so bright, they literally leapt out of the car and ran with their arms in the air as if trying to appreciate the vastness of the beauty.  It seemed almost instinctive for them to relish the great outdoors.  Of course it could have been that we were on a driving vacation for three weeks and they were always happy to get out of the Yukon for a while.  I know they did like it. They always seem to have fond memories when they talk about those vacations now. We did have a lot of fun on those driving trips. They had no fear and seemed to enjoy rolling in the long grass and wadding into the cool water. We went to a lot of inspiring places, including Yellowstone and the Olympic National forest, Nova Scotia and the Colorado Rockies.

For me, I could stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon or the cliffs and canyon crevasses in among the red rocks of Utah and think about how they were formed and how long the earth has been around.  I like to contemplate all of the many peoples that stood in that same spot looking at those same formations for thousands of years and how these natural wonders were formed by billions of years of water and wind. I like the historical aspect, but more importantly I like the way it made me feel; insignificant and powerful all at the same time. You are witnessing life itself in all its past and present glory and soaking in the beauty created by the passage of time. All of my work-a-day cares fade away when I stand on the ledge of that cliff or hike that narrow path along the edge of a vast valley lush with trees and wildlife. It is a connection back with the preciousness of time and a connection with our roots and the earth and time itself.  We were not meant to be indoors for days on end without spending our time with nature.

Time is the most important thing we have.  We cannot have anything else without it.  We need time for love, time for family and time for travel and fun. Without time we have nothing. Time feels like a concept, but time is a concrete thing over which we have absolutely no control.  We can feel time pass and we know when we run out of time and when our time is being wasted, or well spent.  Being immersed in great natural beauty is time well spent. Stand on the edge of time and wonder at the possibilities.