Took a walk along Sandy Flats Road near our home this morning, enjoying the calm just before sunrise.

Walks like this on what will be an unseasonably warm day remind me of how fortunate we have been in our lives. I’m visited every continent on this earth, traveled virtually every country and photographed wonders around the world. Yet some of the most stunning beauty to be found anywhere on the planet is right here within walking distance of home.

Whenever I have to answer the all-too-often-repeated question of why I returned to Floyd County after 40 years, I only have to think about walks like this one. No man who has lived as I have lived, done the things I have done and had the second chances that I have enjoyed deserves to be surrounded by this much beauty and peace.

But I thank God every day that I was given yet one more chance to live and enjoy it.