Sometimes the best moments of travel aren’t caught on camera. These memories happen so unexpectedly, there’s no time or desire to fumble for the smart phone, only a need to remember.

For instance, a wild hog scrambling across our path at dusk on the back roads of Texas Hill Country. We were traveling back to our zen accommodations at Tres Lunas Resort, when the large creature passed so close, we could see the fine lines of his razorback.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that wild things make themselves known in places of peace. Just after meditating in the comfort of San Francisco Zen Center’s Hope Cottage, my husband and I focused our attention out the cottage’s expansive windows to take in the rolling green hills and Pacific Ocean

and ended up having an intimate staring contest with a bobcat. He was so beautiful and calm. The next day we were hiking down from our retreat when his partner joined him from their den to mew their farewells.

Sometimes, these wild creatures force us to take a break. While traveling in Colorado, a flock of Big Horn Sheep stopped traffic along I-70. Having never seen these Rocky Mountain natives, it was a welcomed delay.

Even just a short distance from our own backyard, at Mission Oak inn, from this vantage point

we’ve viewed Osprey and Blue Heron soaring overhead.

Treasured memories.