A few weeks ago, a blogging friend posted this quote (thanks Melody):

"Each moment is a place you've never been." ~Mark Strand

I've been thinking about those words a lot ever since I read them. I've used them as inspiration to get out and experience life and I've used them as a reminder that there's a lot of places I have yet to visit. Life is a sequence of moments, and sometimes timing is everything.

Last Saturday, my family went up into the mountains, into Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a cold, dreary day, but I love the mountains and knew I would enjoy being up there even if we had to stay in the car the whole day (and we pretty well did).

The highlight of the day was seeing so many elk. Most of them a good distance away. We came across a large herd and I (literally) jumped out of the car to try to get some good pictures. As I snapped away, the herd started to move and I ran in the same direction in an effort to get even closer and even better photos. It was a thrill to see this huge herd run across the road into a different spot. There was one bull that bugled and snorted his communication to his harem as he made sure they all stayed together and ended up where he wanted them.

After I had taken all the pictures I could, I hopped back into the car and we traveled further down the road. We eventually turned around and went back the same way we came. As we passed by the place where the herd had passed through, there was no sign of the spectacular event we had just witnessed. Cars were driving through without a clue. I couldn't help but think how timing can mean the difference in seeing something special and not seeing anything at all. The saying, "timing is everything" never rang more true.

I feel blessed to have been at the right place at the right time, and to experience a moment as a place I had never been to before.