Lingering Sweetness

One special weekend

In a beautiful, sunny place.

One fleeting moment

In this high speed race,

  With the love of my life

       All to myself.

The sweetness still lingers

I can feel the sun on my face.

I don't think I'd rather be

In any other place.

And I'll spare you the rest of my poem to my hubby of ten years; you know, all that lovey-dovey stuff about hearing his heartbeat and knowing with certainty that I am his. 

I will however, share how wonderful it was to get away for a couple days and enjoy each other without the distractions and craziness of young family life.

We both agreed that it was something we desperately needed and is something we need to do more often than once every four years.

After leaving the kids and house in some very capable hands, we headed down Oak Creek Canyon, and pulled off after spotting the Sterling Pass trail snaking its way up the cliff side right off the road.

It was quiet and beautiful up there. We saw mountain lion tracks in the snow along the trail. 

We headed back after an hour of hiking though, because it was shaded and cool in the canyon and we wanted a warm sunny place to eat our picnic lunch.

We plan to return when the snow has melted, to take the trail all the way across the pass.

And then my camera battery died.  Only half way into our first hike, and after taking only 23 pictures. Darn!

If I had had my camera, I would have taken a picture of our tennis shoes and hiking sticks in the red dirt on the sterling pass trail.  I would have taken a picture of Dean holding his hand out to assist me up the steep rock he insisted we climb for the best lunch spot. I would have captured the reflections in the creek we sat beside later in the day, and the great flat rock we lay on in the sun.  I might have videoed - to capture the sounds of the birds chirping and the water rushing and the absence of traffic and human din as Dean and I soaked it in with the warm sunshine.

I would have tried to convey the silent beauty around us as we were content to just be, be together in it.

And I might have tried to capture the essence of our love, but would have failed miserably, for I know its depth is something only felt, something only shared between two lucky souls. 

And that is why I came home and tried to put it into words.