The food he handed me went down easily. I took a drink from my jug of water and stared across the campfire listening and watching the stranger as he spoke. How was it that he seemed to know so much about me?

The black wolf looked back in the direction of the man, as if awaiting some silent instruction, before sniffing the late morning air and disappearing into the woods, where the mountain lion had vanished.

Night fell upon the mountains very quickly and with the coming night also came new dangers. While I huddled close to the burning candle inside the hollowed out snow cave, I could see the Northern Lights dancing across the evening sky.

Growing up in the mountains was a wondrous experience for me as a child and from that time in my life, I have carried numerous lessons learned with me well into the winter of my life. One such lesson I remember well is that although they are very beautiful and can take your breath away, the mountains can also be extremely dangerous to those that often wonder astray because they are not paying close attention to their surroundings and lose their way.

It is important that we pay attention to the background in our photos (and our life), otherwise we may miss something very important and fall into a dangerous trap. When we follow blindly we may be putting our lives at risk and putting our faith in another’s hands.

The many things in nature that goes on know matter what we are doing. Paying attention or not.

Poem about the arrival of spring.