Small actions, big changes over time

I'm taking a few days off mid-tour to hike in two spectacular areas: the redwoods of northern California and red-rock country in Utah. The ancient trees and the wildly formed arches and canyons may seem to have little in common, but they both show the effects of small changes over time.

Redwoods seem to have more personality than other trees: straight or spiraling, huge columns or mini-forests unto themselves with side branches the size of full-grown East Coast trees. Many redwoods show evidence of recovering from fire or lost bark or even tops from wind, lightening, or the falling of other giants.

The canyons, rock fins, and arches in Utah show dramatic results from erosion and shifts in the planet's layers.

And the people on the trails and at the overlooks show the effects of diet, exercise, education, and other means we have to shape the bodies and minds we were born with.

Personally, I'm very glad to be carrying about 15 pounds less on the trails this year. I lost weight gradually by eating the Cook for Good way most of the time. As a patch of sunlight may bend a tree over time and drops of water may carve a canyon, small eating and not-eating choices create the Future You.

And on this Mothers' Day, I'm glad to look back on our family tours when I was growing up. Thanks to my folks for never saying what I heard one mother say to her daughter in response to a question about skunk cabbage:

I don't know what it is and I don't want to find out.

But that's a rare response here in the park. For the most part, everyone keeps up a lively conversation about the glories of our world.