Streams, Pools, And Waterfalls

[turtlepins]

Priviledged to live on a ranch in the mountains, I often find myself walking the High Springs trail. It follows a brook, and though the climb is steep and difficult, there are places along the trail that make the effort worth while. There's one place where the water falls about five feet into a pool. Fools gold glitters on the bottom and water bugs dance about the surface. There are rocks with quarts chrystals attached that gleam in the dappled sunlight coming through the trees.

I like to sit beside the waterfall. There's a stump there, and over the past five years I've carved it into a seat. In the silence of a mountain woodland, broken only by the falling water and gurgling stream I can find moments of clarity. I always take my journal in my backpack and often fill pages.

Further up the trail isa plateau, about forty yards square, with one huge old oak tree shading everything. Deer sleep there at night, and often as I come up the trail I see them before they leap away into the surrounding brush. Sometimes they come back when I'm very quiet, sitting with my feet in the stream, writing in my journal.

So why do I share this? We all live in a world filled with noise and activity. Getting away to a quiet place, and enjoying natures beauty, gives us time to think. When I come down from my walk it is with regret, for I know that I will soon be back in that world that leaves me breathless from trying to keep up. I hope you can find a special place to enjoy like this. It's worth it.