**For those of you who follow my posts every day, I went missing this past weekend because I was backpacking in Doughton Park, near Stone Mountain.
Friday night, my brother, his friend, my boyfriend, and I all slung on our hiking backpacks and trekked into Doughton to spend the weekend in the wild. We set up our tents, cooked dinner over a gas stove, chatted by the fire, and climbed into our sleeping bags for a refreshing slumber. Saturday morning dawned bright and cool. I meditated by the creek flowing by our campsites and ate a warm, hearty breakfast of oatmeal. After cleaning our dishes in the creek, we slung our packs back on and began a long hike of 12.5 miles. The weather was perfect: cool and breezy enough to keep us comfortable when we hiked uphill (rather, upmountain), and sunny and clear enough to render beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. We completed our hike in the late afternoon, proud, satisfied, and hungry. Content and pleasantly exhausted, we slept even better than the night before. Sunday morning brought rain. Nearly as soon as we awoke, a drizzle began to splatter the canopy of leaves above our heads. That drizzle quickly soaked the ground, and we donned rain jackets and extra socks and gloves. We stretched rain covers over our packs and began what would become about a four mile hike along the creek...a hike that involved nearly a dozen crossings over slippery stones and cold water. I am amazed I managed not to fall at all. This second hike was a test of our fortitude. That morning, we had three options. We could... A) Forget the creek trail and simply hike the 1.5 miles back to the car B) Complete the trail, and complain the entire time C) Complete the trail, and thoroughly enjoy it We chose Option C. Yes, it was raining, and yes, it was cold, but the rain was also an opportunity to see a different kind of beauty in nature. The rain drops created gorgeous ripple effects in the creek, and they gave the leaves a certain green glimmer that can only be admired when it rains. Sunday's hike was an obvious opportunity for us to see the glass as 1/2 full, and the truth is, opportunities like this abound in everyday life. We must only look for them. So, next time it rains in your life (literally or figuratively), you do not have to necessarily look for the sunshine...you can look for the beauty in the rain.
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