Where I Find Myself

I have been letting my foot heal from a stress fracture now for a month and finally on last Sunday I went for a walk. It was absolutely the most wonderful thing in the world. I felt so alive! I felt so connected with my surroundings! I rested on Monday and yesterday I went for another walk. For some reason I was being very observant on this walk and to my surprise I saw some of the most wonderful things. First of all much had changed on the trail in a month. There were patches of poison ivy where there used to be none and the "weeds" alongside the trail were really tall. (I hate to call them "weeds" because they must serve a purpose, otherwise why would they be there? I don't know what it is, but I'm sure poison ivy serves some purpose as well.) Everything was so green and lush. I saw several plants that I've seen in my mother's garden. And I thought to myself some of these plants are indigenous to Georgia, therefore someone across the world may have never seen them before. I looked up and my eyes met with pine trees and oaks and poplars. I glanced upon verdant ivy and a bit of kudzu springing up among the rocks next to the river. I saw wild ferns and dried up dandelions and vines all twisty and turned up in the trees.

I looked over the trail and saw a beautiful creek coming out of a corner in the woods and went down by the river to watch the water flow around and over and among and under the rocks and branches. I sent a leaf down the river to see which direction it would take. I dipped my hands in the water and then threw a few pebbles in the water just to see them splash. I saw a very big black snake winding its way up the hill--it had just crossed the trail from the water. I will admit that as fascinated as I was by the snake, I was also a bit afraid. I tried to find it on my way back, but it didn't leave much in the way of tracks. Two baby chipmunks crossed the trail right in front of me! They were precious and so small. And there were two robins sitting in the grass (until I came upon them and they took flight).

As I was looking up into the woods I glimpsed a patch of orange. It seemed out of place with all the green surrounding it, so I took another look. It was there, about five or six orange leaves right there in the middle of so many green plants. I have no idea what it was. I wondered a little way into my walk why I had never bothered to look this closely at my surroundings. Then I remembered how fast I used to walk and how determined I was to push myself to the limit and over. I am glad I have slowed down because I missed so much!

After my walk I took a dip in the pool and the water felt so good. I swam back and forth across the pool seeing how far I could go without taking a breath and I did back flips in the water--I was 8 again! Then I realized that my trusty bathing suit was falling apart and I decided it was time to go home. There are lots of ways to spend your time, but I think those two hours in the woods and then in the pool were probably the best spent two hours I've had in a long time. I have to take today off to rest my foot, but I'll be back tomorrow. And I'll have my eyes peeled for anything new, and everything old. Oh how grateful I am to have legs and feet and eyes and ears and a place to go to find myself.

I am thrilled to have set my eyes upon the very intricate world of the woods, upon the thrilling rush of water over rocks, upon creatures slimy and small. I see my world differently now than I did two months ago. I see the natural and the artificial and have learned that I prefer the natural world. One day I am going to wake up on the forest floor and look up and see the sun coming down upon me through the trees. I will be very happy.