already lived there for about two years and knew my way around the back trails of the house. I had been back there before, but this time, was different. This time I felt like I could breathe. The feel of the wind rolling off the mountains, so cool and refreshing. I felt with every wind blow layers of stress and discomfort brushed off me.
The trail was small and narrow. The forest floor was covered in a blanket of fallen pine needles and colorful leaves. I looked up at the trees and rays of sun shine gleamed through the tightly packed branches. The aroma of the nearby swamp filled my nose with a strangely pleasant smell of decay and mud. I could imagine the little woodland creatures dancing to the upbeat folk song written and produced exclusively by the band “The Frogs N’ The Crickets”. I laughed at the thought and felt that smile on my face. At that moment, I realized I hadn’t felt that smile in years. I found my new friends among the trees. The trees became an essence of myself and slowly began to shape my entire world.
After that point, I frequently went out there. This was a pivotal point in my life. It sparked the start of something great. I knew that no matter where the woods would take me it always took my mind to a state of ease. Any problem or confusion was instantly solved.
My youngest step brother, Dawson, and I never really got along, but when we did it was because of the outdoors. Dawson was a very wide child and always had spiky hair, he could probably crush me if he gave me a high-five, but that’s besides the point. We decided to build a tree house. It was so fascinating to feel and work with the wood and create something that was mine in the most beautiful spot possible. We never finished it but for the first time ever he and I worked together on something and rather than fight, we collaborated as team. Nature had brought us together in a way I never thought
possible and that,
was something
quite
extraordinary.
Just the sense of
peace I got out there compared to how little I felt in the comfort of my own bedroom always amazed me. It was like as if my bedroom was really the forest and the moss my bed and a little stump was my night stand. To be among the natural world, accepting my place as one of its creatures, I found my senses reborn to the stimuli of the fungi, the feel of the surreal and the sound of the profound.
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