On our delicate constitution and inevitable demise

Today we walked through the Narrows, wading over short rocks, treacherously soft silt, and cloudy river water. We scrambled over sandy banks and boulders, party to a tiny sliver of the awesome geological diversity on the Earth's surface. 

In the Orderville branch of the Narrows, we solved puzzle after physical puzzle, using our bodies as machines of trial and error computation, striving to answer the challenges posed by nature. It was very different from my day to day life and extremely rewarding to put my body to use. 

I clawed my fingers into centimeter wide ledges. I leapt onto algae-slicked inclines. I straddled channels of water shooting  between cleft boulder faces. I was able to do all this because I am able bodied. 

It's something that I take for granted most of the time. Doing something like this is a wakeup call. To make the most of my time and to do and see what I can.