A need to wander among trees

My Dad and I frequently talk about our need to wander among the trees.  Our conversations always remind me to get back out there.  I wonder if they do the same for him.  There's something about sharing a common passion that motivates one to keep doing it.

So this morning, I spent almost four hours wandering among the trees at a local preserve.  I probably hiked a little over 3 miles so it was a slow pace to allow me to really take it all in.

It gave me time to think and process in a way that doesn't allow me to stay stuck.  I'll be following a train of thought as I navigate the rocky path when a Carolina Wren will suddenly fly across the path in front of me pulling me out of my thoughts and back into the moment.  Or the sound of a waterfall or babbling brook will soothe my nervous system as I work through something in my head.

It also gave me the chance to completely clear my head of everything but the present.  I laid on a flat rock in the middle of the stream, down river from a small waterfall and just watched the water flow, a poem forming in my head, adjusting a few times so I could also capture a few photos.  I sat on a bench with a bright red cardinal singing loudly in the tree above me and tufted titmice singing harmony from a distance as I swung my legs since they could not reach the ground.

And I found some moments to laugh.  Photography is my hobby and so I'm always looking for the interesting photo opportunity and it gets me into interesting situations at times, often without the sense to think through ahead of time how I'm going to get myself out of those interesting situations.  At one point I was clinging to the trunk of a fallen tree over a stream as I lowered my camera to get the right angle, hoping I wouldn't fall into the water!  And then I had to figure out how to climb backwards and find some solid ground to step back onto.

So the only question remaining is where will I venture to next?  I think the tulips should be blooming by next weekend...