Pulitzer-prize winning Beat Zen Buddhist poet and eco-activist Gary Snyder turned 83 last week. Don't know how I missed this. He's a role model and hero of mine. This from Practice of the Wild:
"Our skills and works are but tiny reflections of the wild world that is innately and loosely orderly. There is nothing like stepping away from the road and heading into a new part of the watershed. Not for the sake of newness, but for the sense of coming home to our whole terrain. "Off the trail" is another name for the Way, and sauntering off the trail is the practice of the wild. That is also where - paradoxically - we do our best work".
[NOTE: Go here for nice film profile of Gary Snyder. A belated happy birthday and best wishes for many more].