Here and There: My Favorite Place To Think

(the leaves haven't changed yet, i took this last year)

This is the back part of my yard.  There is a patch of what I call "starry night moss" there off the right where sometimes I walk barefoot and sink my feet into like a lush natural carpet.  Sometimes when I am frustrated or need to work something out I settle in there with my thoughts or a journal.  This year there is a stack of wood directly behind where I was standing taking this photo and sometimes I put myself in time out there.  When I start to blow my temper at the girls I will march out and sit my behind on those logs, close my eyes and count to ten.  Then there is the back path.  You've heard me write about the "back path" on my blog.  It starts off to the right just inside the woods and loops up behind my grandmother's house next door.  Close enough to hear the girls but trees on either side.  I take the dog out there to walk in the morning and sometimes I just walk out there to meditate with the trees. 

When I was little I spent a lot of time with my grandparents.  They watched me while my mother worked when I was real young and I spent many summers and weekends there growing up.  When I was little that woods seemed to stretch on forever and it felt like you could really get lost in there.  My cousins and I would pull logs together and outline houses and sweep out all the leaves and make rooms and play house.  Now when I look out I can actually see the houses peeking through from the other side and it seems so much smaller.   Funny how your perspective changes.

I feel amazingly lucky to have this place.  I have always found myself at my worst moments reaching for the trees and feel lucky that I have so many beauties to surround myself with.  Something about their age, their strong roots and the way the wind whispers to them, makes me feel like they are wise and have an easy ear.