Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky.
Have you taken a walk in the woods lately?
I ask myself this question when life begins to feel too crowded. Thoughts, worries, changes, business that requires me to stare at a screen for hours-upon-days…
This past Tuesday, as the sun rose, warming the clear air, I got into a car and went to the mountains. As we approached the mountains all of the busy nonsense in my head (which usually means so much to me) receded.
The subdivisions and shopping centers gave way to farms, and soon, to the elevation of the Cascade Range. Mt. Rainier looming in the distance.
When hiking in the Cascades it is a necessity to check the snowline…we didn’t…we parked next to the trail head for Bench and Snow Lakes only to realize that the trail is under several feet of snow. The view of the mountain, however, was superb. I sat and stared, munching peacefully on a packed lunch, at the glaring snow and ice of the strata-volcano. As a blackberry sweetened my tongue, I thought, ‘we’re nearly to Ohanapecosh…right?’
Since we were, and since it is a fun name to say, and since the day was still middle-aged, we talked ourselves into a short walk along the Ohanapecosh river to The Grove of the Patriarchs.
There is a wisdom in the forest. There is also fresh air! In myth, legend, and sacred text we are told of people going to trees to have their best ideas, to meditate, to pray. I didn’t have any brilliant ideas, at least none that I credit. The fresh air cleared my head. The flowers, fungi, and small creatures healed my tired heart. I also felt the earth beneath my feet – with every step that I took, and a smile blooming upon my face, as the heat of the evening welcomed us home.
Spuv Goo 