Reflections 10/22/2020: Seeing this badge on our Ken Caryl trails used to strike a giant bolt of fear in my heart! Instant terror… like stumbling upon a coiled rattlesnake! Why? Because my dog Koda was off-leash and I was a convict on the run! Wrong, but unwilling to make it right! Tickets galore! I even tried the rationale that he was part coyote, and as such, had his right to be running free… and I would actually be violating their rules not to mess with the wildlife in our valley! Never worked… and the Jefferson County Sheriffs would show up at my door with a costly ticket and an ever increasingly hostile threat to toss my butt in jail! “Then where would my dog be?” Sooo, I decided from square one, after getting Roo, to become a law abiding citizen. Leash obediently in hand. Dog restrained. The world a better place for my compliance. And amazingly that adrenalin rush of fear at the sight of a ranger has gone away! Kinda even see them as friends… with shared goals for keeping our wilderness beautiful. No more ducking behind bushes, or anxiously scanning the horizon for glimpses of these law enforcers, or anger at being busted for my “civil disobedience!” Didn’t realize how incredibly freeing that would be to me! I am now un-leashed! God, I think a similar thing happens when we stop bucking You! No need to hide, deny guilt, or rationalize our bad behavior. You slowly become our Friend instead of a rigid-rule enforcing tyrant. Un-leashed we can discover Your love! And join You in Your work of making this world a more beautiful place!