Reflections on the Nature of Reality while Mountain Biking
Today, I took the afternoon off and went for a bike ride up Mt. Tam.

What a beautiful day! But man, was it HOT! Felt like biking across a desert, except that you have to climb 4000 feet. The heat just kicked the spit out of me. I must have sweat out a quart of Gatorade!

Anyway, here I was... wiped out by the sun but kicking into my second wind... I have this Nike MP3 player jacked in to help keep my energy up during the long climb, and I'm listening to John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High". At this one magical moment, just as my endorphins kick in, JD is singing that line "I know he'd be a poorer man... if he never saw an eagle fly"... and just at that exact instant, a redtail hawk suddenly emerges from a valley right before me. The hawk caught a thermal, and his rapid ascension was spectacular and in perfect timing with the crescendo of the music.

Sun shining with a light breeze, adrenaline hits the redline, and everything in the universe aligns for thirty seconds of absolute satori. I was stunned by the beauty of it all, and had to stop and just gawk at the splendor of the world.

That was my day! Thank you GOD!