Trails in the Mist

" In wildness is the preservation of the world."
- Henry David Thoreau

A friend and I recently bemoaned the fact the world is growing too loud. Not the actual planet - the society we live in. There is so much noise around us. Everywhere you turn media is pounding into your head. From restaurants offering up the latest news via a bevy of flat screen TVs to the cell phones tweeting in our pockets and everything in between there is noise and interference and static. We wondered how anyone could feel joy or peace when they are so removed from the beauties of nature and the wonders of good conversation.

Later, my daughter informed me the people around her were fighting via text messages...while sitting in the same room! I'm all for utilizing the marvels of technology, but give me a break! When was the last time you turned everything off and went outside? It's pretty phenomenal out there - give it a try!

"I am well again, I came to life in the cool winds
and crystal waters of the mountains..."
- John Muir

Getting away from the noise is only part of the reason for seeking a respite in nature. Nature renews us, lifts us, empowers us to face another day. We walked to this water fall one summer day in June. There are those who would say the day was ruined because of the rain and fog. I was entranced. The renewing power around me was tangible. My heart grew light, my skin was caressed, my eyes were gifted with wonder after wonder. My soul cried out with the desire to spend more time than I could allow.

"...It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of the air, that emanation from the old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit." - Robert Louis Stevenson

The day ended far too soon. I vowed I would return. Not perhaps to that exact place, but I will return to the light and shadow of the deep wood. I will walk again under the healing embrace of the trees. I will revel in the pristine blue of the sky and dance in the rain when it comes again. I will fill my heart with images to carry me through the noise and confusion of some future day. I will do all of this.

Will you?