As I approach the century mark -- yes, one hundred blogs nearly published, the century mark signifier -- a smile crosses my face as I reflect upon the variety of articles that have made their way through cyberspace to your computer screens. Most would notice a strong bias towards surfing within this blogosphere, but that would be missing an important aspect of all of my writing. Within each entry there is a hope to catch the spirit of the outside world, in order to bring it closer to you.

I write to celebrate this Mother Earth that we are so blessed to be living upon. This air, this water, the fiery sunset sky above me as I walk (scramble, climb, slide, reach, stretch) my way up the sandstone, chaparral trail. It is all so real. When my feet are humming a rhythm that befits a global spin, all time and space become irrelevant. Mathematics is gone. Language escapes me. There is only breath, being . . . oneness.

I urge you all to get out and hike in the unblemished lands that survive the onslaught of progress, the myth of inexhaustibility. These places are evaporating before our eyes, as our current administration overextends its executive powers to drill for fossil fuels in places so holy that amendments to the Constitution were necessary in order to preserve them.

Each time I make the decision to not turn on the computer, to not do chores, to not slip into the humdrum pattern of daily life, and instead to lace up the hiking boots, throw together a day pack and let my spirit roll me into the abyss, I am NEVER -- NEVER disappointed. There is always a solace and solitude waiting for me in the embrace of the forest and the mountains.

Yesterday was a blessing like no other. We collectively honored one of America's incredible true heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King, by taking the day off from work. At least we lucky teachers had the day off! Impassioned by his blazing speeches on public radio KPFA in the morning, I determined that I would spend the afternoon doing what I love more than anything - seek that holy union with the outdoors.

King's words buzzed through my head as I started up the trail. His rhetoric was refined with such symphonic articulation that I thought I was listening to classical Mozart. But soon the friendly chatter of other hikers and the playful bark of a happy dog brought me out of my personal daze. The bottom of the trailhead head had several groups merging from different parts of the foothills, and everyone had a glow to their personal aura that was easily noticeable, even if you aren't a psychic, or mystic, or what-have-you.

My mission was Cathedral Peak. Visible from most of Santa Barbara this roughly 3,000-foot cliff is not an easy destination, especially when you only have three hours or so of daylight left. But I was not to be daunted, my mind was set, I could make it and it was going to be one beautiful and memorable sunset when I arrived.

ER Harris