One of the highlights of my day is walking with the land in my neighborhood forest, at Prairiewoods or both. At this time, I am spending more time with my neighborhood forest, going out twice a day and fully noticing the life and breath of the land. This land is a soul friend and a family member, an elder, a guardian.
Mostly the forest and I walk quietly together. I tear up sometimes, ask for forgiveness, vow to be a better friend. I smile with the breeze. We listen, the forest and I, to the birds. But mostly we hold the quiet together.
I pause more often now, noticing more. I’m being shown more. Everything is more beautiful. The other day I looked down and saw turkey tail mushrooms shaped like two open roses growing on a fallen log. This nearly did me in. The forest and I both saw it, held it, and our hearts took a picture. I also took an actual picture and the experience reminds me of what author Christine Valters Paintner calls “a moment that shimmers.”
Are there moments that shimmer for you as you walk with the land you love? Have you noticed more beauty? What are you and the land talking about these days? Are you holding silence together?
—Angie Pierce Jennings, Prairiewoods hosted groups and hospitality coordinator