Peace In The Forest
We drive for hours and walk miles to see the beauty of the National Parks! We wait anxiously to catch sight of the wildlife that lives among these places so filled with tourists. There are paths to follow and often times fences to stay behind. There are signs to describe to you what awaits you up ahead. There are buses and cars. There are lodges and shops for you to spend money buying every souvenior you can imagine! These are the things we have filled our National Parks with. These are where the people flock! Carrying our maps, our tour books, our snacks, and all our bags of newly bought memories, we venture through the parks to experience Nature! In a time when tv, video games, bright lights, and shops on every corner fill our lives, is this the place to add even more of these manmade attractions? The headlines are filled with worries of fires started by the mistakes we make while camping! The articles talk of how many bear will have to be killed this summer because they have become tempted by our snacks and no longer want to eat what is all around them so they turn to the tourists to provide them with these new found treats! Must we invade and add to a beauty that was perfect before we even found it? This is a place so easy to sit in and become filled with the pure beauty of life! A place where life can be forgotten and new ideas can be created. It is uncommon however in the hustle and bustle of the tourists to see a kindred soul who has left the path behind not to destroy or add their "mark" to Nature, but to find just a quiet place to sit and take in all that is truely amazing in these parks and forests! It is warming to see those who wander off the paved path to sit and listen or those who take a moment to find a spot perfect for a bit of meditation among the trees. I found just the place to venture off the path and wander down to sit with my feet in the cold, fresh waters during our last visit to one of the nearby parks. The smells all about me were sweet and musky. The sounds were of running water and birds singing. There was scurrying of little feet and the quiet of nature! This is the gift I crave! This is what energizes my soul and keeps me going! To sit with the trees, the rocks, and the water! To have quiet in a world that is so busy! I pray you can each find a space of natural beauty to enjoy all the gifts around you! Please remember the beauty that was there before we added to it as you venture out this summer and help to make our Parks, our Forests, our Meadows, our Rivers, our Oceans and all there is...a beautiful and safe place again for all those creatures who live there! Blessings-