Our Journey Begins

 

Hey there. I’m new here. And this is where my journey begins.

There is so much wonder, so much to learn, things to see and experience. But so little time… I’m a curious and creative soul and I feel connected in my core, in my soul, to the nature that is alive and bountiful around me. That is, because I live in a forest. 

A tiny cabin sits amidst western hemlocks, a few pines, and there is evidence of truly massive red cedars that had, at one point, been the giants of this forest. I long to have known them. I climb atop their large stumps and see the brutal truth of what lay around the base, tossed away, the shiny brown flesh of the giant that once stood here. My heart weeps, it will never know the beauty of the giant. A giant that I know was once home to a noisy stellar jay, an impromptu escape route for a playful chipmunk, or offered a resting place among its strong branches to an old owl. I will never know its long flowing boughs or its old, rough bark. I will never truly understand its vastness. 

There are many of these great stumps left behind and littered throughout the forest that I now call home and I close my eyes and I hear the waves crashing miles away, the sound reverberating through the hills, I feel the cool touch of a gentle breeze, and I taste the freshness of the raindrops that suddenly fall onto my upturned face and gently roll down onto my lips. And with my whole spirit I pledge to these rustling trees, to the scuttling birds, to the almighty Mother Nature herself, I will never let this happen again. As long as I live, I will be here to protect and watch over you. Perhaps even when I too am gone, my soul will stay, a child of the forest forever. 

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Image (Image by jcomp on Freepik)