Within our spheres of interest, any reference to hikes has usually involved talk of interest rates, not a walk in the woods. Although rumours of interest rate hikes have been with us for some time, realities of such are mostly distant memory. A real hike in the woods, not so much. Especially for me, last week.

In a favorite book Get Your Shift Together, Steve Rizzo contends that happiness is a state of mind that can be fostered, brought about, with conscious decision in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. That may be true, but a hike in the magnificent, natural surroundings of New York’s Mohonk Preserve with a valued customer last Wednesday certainly brought focus to my camera and vistas of well-being. It’s not surprising that a lumber trader would coincidentally stumble on Scottish-American naturalist and author, John Muir’s quote that “the clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.”