Dear Friend, I have always loved mountains. Growing up at the gateway to the White Mountains in New Hampshire (USA), my brother and I explored the many wooded acres surrounding our family home. The woods were not frequented by hikers and the closest neighbors were a few miles away. We had the forest very much to ourselves. On that wooded mountain we found old stone walls and abandoned foundations, remnants of mountain homesteads now long gone. Sometimes only a chimney remained standing, old stone laid perhaps one or even two hundred years ago, an odd sight amidst the younger trees. Maybe it was these ancient and dilapidated structures, taken by the forest, that inspired us to create our own forest homes: forts in all corners, made as kids do, with tree limbs and rocks, and kept clean with a good dust broom. There was something thrilling in discovering these special places, a grassy patch under a tree, the edge of the pond where the beaver played, or under sweeping branches of the grand hemlock. We returned to them again and again. We made fairy houses from pinecones and bark. We carried snacks of cornbread and left small signs of our having been there, like tiny toy cars and buried rocks and feathers. We visited our small homes away from home in all seasons. In the winter, the snow laid the branches heavy and low so we could crawl underneath them, blanketed and hidden from the world by snowflakes. In the spring, rain pummeled the delicate new leaves, filling the air with their fresh scent and dewy brightness. In the fall, the air became dry and crisp, and the leaves turned bright autumn rust and burgundy. When the sun grew strong it made the forest smell of pine and tree sap. I have been blessed to call many places home. If you are a traveler yourself, perhaps you understand. Still, it is the joy in returning and being with a place through all its seasons that for me brings the spirit alive, and the sight of mountains is a sign that I am home. What is it in a place that calls you home? From my heart to yours, Sayre Herrick OMEC Board of Directors  Comments are closed.
|
Archives
September 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed
