Stone Mountain on a Saturday morning

For whatever reason, I was wide awake at 5:00 AM today....on a Saturday no less.  Don't know what's up with that, but there it is.

At any rate, as a part-time denizen of Atlanta, Ga, for the past 10 years or so, one thing that I try to do on a somewhat regular basis is get over to Stone Mountain for some much needed exercise.  Though most Americans in my generation have grown up believing that bigger is better, trust me when I say that SingleMalt in a trim, 750 ml bottle is a heck of a lot more visibly appealing than SingleMalt in a 1.75 L package, hence the exercise regime, but I digress....

So this morning I got in my car and headed over to Stone Mountain early....arriving just before dawn.  There are numerous options for getting one's daily dose of exercise at the park, including walking trails, a 5 mile loop around the mountain for joggers, walkers or bikers, and a hiking trail to the top of the mountain.  I chose the latter this morning, and as I made my way up the trail in the pre-dawn half-light, the slight chill in the air and the faint whiff of pine on the breeze suddenly brought on a powerful bout of nostalgia...childhood memories of early morning hunting and fishing excursions with my father that I had all but forgotten, came rushing back as if they had just happened yesterday.   Needless to say, this immediately brought a smile to my face and a spring in my step as I revisited those good times on my way to the top - thanks Dad!!

Now I must have made this trek hundreds of times over the past decade, and even though I'm typically an early riser, this was the first time that I found myself on the summit in time to watch the sunrise.  Wow, what a pretty scene....a light scattering of clouds bringing out shades of pink, yellow, orange, red and purple that one can only find in nature.  I just sat there for half an hour taking it all in....can't find the words to express what I was feeling and observing, but it was pretty awesome.

So what does this all have to do with trading the markets?  Not a thing!  But I warned you at the top of the page that I would also be posting on life in general, and this is one of those times.  Besides, not all of my circle of family and friends are interested in the markets, so I'll be mixing in posts on other topics on a fairly regular basis in attempt to keep everyone engaged.

By the way - comments and feedback are always welcome - just click on "comments" below.

Wishing everyone a great Labor Day Weekend.