I circumnavigated the Spring Valley Wildlife Area marsh. I had never done that before, though I had been going there for years, the first trip of which was as a kid to collect acorns in the autumn. I also remember going on my twentieth birthday exactly a decade ago.

I don’t know what it is that calls me back each time. Perhaps just the sense of peace that is foisted upon me. It is fitting that, over the years, I’ve been going there with some of the most important people in my life, those who grew me. Today, I trekked alone in a crashing thunderstorm, a torrential downpour, and my footfalls were soaked. And, it was yet tranquil. I should probably stop writing since I’m obviously at risk of waxing poetic.

Suffice it to say that it is out among the natural world that I seem to be most centered; where, whether I understand it or not, whether I understand the greater scheme or not, a peace about all of it descends and permeates. It is clarity. It is companionship. It is home.