3 Days In 1

Costa Rica...or LA?

On Monday, well aware of the stormy weather forecast, I packed up and went for a hike at my usual jam, Mount Wilson in the Angeles Forest. Despite the fact it was going to throw off my whole workout schedule, I had to go. Hiking in the clouds is one my favorite things, and that day was the rare triple whammy I'd been eagerly waiting for since the last time it happened a year ago: clouds, rain, and snow! It can't get any better than that. It's indescribably gorgeous, wondrous to behold, and oh so rare in SoCal, which just makes it even more special. 

Little did I know the head-trip I was in for, feeling like I just experienced three days in one. Good Ol' Mother Nature provided me with a valuable reminder of one of life's important lessons...

Absolutely insane this is in LA's backyard!

Although I've hiked up from "Normal Land" to "Snow Land" and back before, on Monday the conditions and environment changed so drastically throughout the day it felt like I had visited three completely different places on Earth on three completely different days. First up was the rainforest-esque experience of hiking in the fog, clouds, and rain at lower elevation. Covered by lush, wet, green foliage, I could have sworn I was in Costa Rica in the fall rainy season.

Never let it be said Californians don't know what snow is.

It's a bit of Where's Waldo, but I swear there's an observatory in this picture. 

Good thing I've been here many times and know exactly where the trailhead is...

Slowly, however, my surroundings began to transform. Green turned to white, the air thinned, the canopy cover withdrew bit by bit to reveal the sky above, and before I knew it, I was up in the mountains in winter snow. Still mostly in the clouds, there were patches of escape into the sun as I rose above the world. Instead of stepping in mud or over puddles, I was crunching tightly-packed fresh powder under my feet. Instead of drizzles of rain, snowflakes were falling down on me. I could have sworn I was up near my grandpa's cabin in the mountains at the height of winter.

All good snow must come to an end.

Lastly, the descent down eventually brought about the third environment. The snow and ice steadily turned back to water, the clouds faded as I climbed down closer to ground level, and blue edged out its grey neighbor with each passing minute. By the final stretch, the only trace of stormy weather was the sunlight glittering through the leftover raindrops and the gorgeous rainbow following me as I twisted around the pass. The sun and blue sky had taken over, the greenery was returning to its California brown, and soon there was civilization in sight (even if only two cars in a parking lot). I didn't have to swear anymore. I knew right where I was and that reality was real: cold spring in the open SoCal forest. 

I could not reconcile it all in my brain. I felt I had just gone through three separate days in three separate places, but my watch told me it had only been eight hours. How could I have possibly gone through all that in eight hours, and how could I have walked through three vastly different seasons and locations in eight hours? To see such drastic change, you have to drive or fly, right? You just can't go through all that by walking! 

But I had, and it really messed with my head. I can't quite explain the feeling of not believing what you know you just experienced, and believing three days just passed when they hadn't. Is that was doing shrooms is like?

At any rate, it was a great reminder that change can happen quickly and you just have to go with the flow. Each environment was a unique and beautiful experience that I relished with joy, appreciation, and gratitude. But the experiences did not last. The moments passed as nature changed and brought about the next experience, and time marched ever forward. The present is only the present for the briefest of instants, and then it becomes the past. Rinse and repeat. 

Anything and everything in life can change just as quickly as nature. A phone call can bring instant relief and joy with news that you got the job, or sudden shock and grief with news of a loved one's passing. One moment, you're happily in love thinking you might even marry your partner, and the next it's over and you're alone after they dropped the bomb on you. One moment you're a healthy being with no physical problems and the next an accident has left you crippled. 

Not that change is always so dramatic. Change comes in all shapes, sizes and forms. It can be dramatic, mundane, or somewhere in between. Saturday night you're out frolicking with your friends and living it up, and then Sunday morning you're tiredly checking off chores and errands, preparing to trudge through another five days of work. Hmmm...even that sounds a bit dramatic. Even less intense, for a few minutes you're savoring that bacon, and then it's gone and you're baconless for the rest of the day. Or it's as simple as exchanging a smile with a stranger on the sidewalk, never to see them or think about them again as you return to your own thoughts, music, or podcast.

If I were jaded or entitled, I'd have complained it wasn't a double.

Sometimes change is dramatic and alters our life forever, and sometimes it's so small it hardly impacts us at all. Sometimes we get to choose change, and sometimes change is thrust upon us. Yet even when we make choices, those choices depend on ever-changing circumstances beyond our control. I chose to go for that hike when I saw the weather forecast days ahead of time. I chose to alter my own schedule to make room for that joy, but my decision was dependent on nature, which is completley out of my control. I chose that hike, but I didn't choose Monday. Monday chose me. I chose to be in the clouds, rain, and snow, but I didn't choose when they would come and go. They did their thing and I could only appreciate them as long as they were there.

Each and every moment presents us with an opportunity for joy, love, or beauty. Each and every one of those moments will pass and be forever gone as the next moment opens up to us. We make our own choices in life, but we do not control life. We can choose how we ride along, but we can't stop, start, or pause the ride. In order to live life to the fullest, we have to try and stay in the moment and appreciate it while it's there, for it will not last. Nothing does. Everything changes. Roll with it.

Bonus purtty photo!

Bonus bonus purtty photo!