“Both friends came to realize that walking over long distances and spans of time is the surest way to find oneself.” Tobjorn Ekelund In Praise of Paths: Walking Through Time and Nature p. 33 I gazed into the campfire, watched the yellow and orange flames rise and fall, heard the crackle of burning wood, and smelled the wood smoke. Watching the flickering flames I made a decision to get up early and take a long hike. I wanted to better…
As the day designated for my surgery loomed steadily closer thoughts arose; in bad moments anxious scenarios of death, disability and disfigurement; in calmer moments practical concerns about all that needed to be done to prepare for the operation that would require a long incision across my neck. One morning, ten days out from surgery, my mind jumped past the surgery to the recovery process. I saw myself immersed in an image of all the plant and animal life surrounding…
Prologue John Slender strands of mist swirled over the still surface of Prompton Lake; lacy twelve inch strands, swirling clock wise, counter clockwise. I stood by the lake and watched each of my exhalations form a small cloud that floated out and mingled with the morning mist. It seemed as if my breath, although following a different time scale, somehow joined the greater respiration of the lake. Behind me I heard a few morning bird songs; the insistent teecha,…