My Happiness Walked Through the Centuries

"Today I walked on the lion-coloured hills
 with only cypresses for company, 
 until the sunset caught me, turned the brush
 to copper
 set the clouds 
 to one great roof of flame 
 above the earth,
 so that I walk through fire, beneath fire,
 and all in beauty. 
 Being alone
 I could not be alone, but felt
 (closer than flesh) the presence of those
 who once had burned in such transfigurations.
 My happiness ran through the centuries
 in one continual brightness.  Looking down,
 I saw the earth beneath me like a rose
 petaled with mountains,
 fragrant with deep peace."
 -  Elizabeth Coatsworth, On the Hills, 1924  

Walking: Quotes, Poems, Sayings.  Compiled by Mike Garofalo. 

When I walked my 3.6 miles (5.7km) on Friday morning it was a cool 47F with winds blowing at around 18 mph.  The sky was filled with dark flowing clouds, and the soil was still damp from yesterday's gentle rain.  In the afternoon, the winds roared through the tree leaves at 30 mph.  A very dramatic weather day in the North Sacramento Valley.  

I saw one red breasted robin, and hundreds of Brewer's blackbirds (Euphagus cyanocephalus) feeding in flocks while I was walking yesterday morning.  Over 640 species of birds have been identified in California.  Karen and I have listed the birds we have spotted and identified on or near our property in Red Bluff, California. 

Has anyone read the 2013 book: On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes by Alexandra Horowitz?  Maria Popova gave this book a very positive review.  It would seem to match my interests:  Sensory Awareness, Looking, and Walking. 

In the autumn months, the leaves of the Raywood Ash trees turn a crimson color  ...  "so that I walk through fire, beneath fire, and all in beauty."