Back to Nature

We've replaced the dry, Rocky Mountains air of the desert with the watery, hot, buggy and muggy air of The South. The kind of air you see in a photo, like a light white film between all the other elements. It's material ...

We've replaced the snowy rocky peaks with miles and miles of lakes, hiding underneath green lush brush, behind tall, straight-up, squeaky pines …

We've replaced the multi-color carpet of summer flowers on mountain pastures with tons and tons of mushrooms from so much rain and humidity …

We've replaced the harsh, hot red rocks with soft, wet, green moss …

We've traded the million star-studded sky, a glorious carpet in the dark night of the desert, for the hundreds of earthly sparks of the lightning bugs over the thick, green, forest floor … Traded wishing upon a falling star for wishing upon a firefly …

We've traded scarceness of the swirly and crooked junipers, the fragrant and harsh to the touch sage, the cactus for the abundance of pine trees, stocky and bulky oaks, for sub-tropical fig tree-like thickets, and so many more species of plants, bushes, and trees than I care to remember …

We've replaced the dry and hard hidden desert trails winding up and down mountain cliffs with clearly pathwayed pine needle-covered trails winding around lakes …

We've replaced the trout in the rare stream with turtles in every lake that we walked by …

We've replaced the cool night breeze and cross-winds in our camper, from both windows being left open at night, with the noisy air conditioning unit. Windows tightly shut this time – no escape from humidity otherwise, not even at night …

We've traded the desert dust in and on our shoes with itchy bug bites and burning welts …

But the beans tasted just as sweet and the sleep was just as deep as ever. Just like with every camping trip before, our batteries are recharged, and we're turning back to our routines with the same amount of peace and gratefulness and awareness that life could be simpler and yet so rich.

We're camping in NC. It's definitely not anything like camping in The Rockies. But that's just it: it's just a different experience, and by no means a lesser one. This is what here is now, and we're taking it in wholly: the breathing of the land, the vibrations of everything that's alive and ready for a new year in the wilderness, the closeness to quiet, and God is still the same, in whatever dialect, and whatever the latitude.

If you want to know what's important, what is really, truly important in this world, go and speak to a tree, or a hill, or a star, or a star-like bug. Or better yet: speak not at all, but listen. Get lost and lose judgment. Just take everything in. Let nature in and allow her to awaken your senses. There is so much to learn! I can promise you it will not always be comfortable, but it always be worth it.

Click the picture for the whole album of the latest camping trip, exploring Holly Point Campground and Durant Nature Preserve in NC