Sanctuary. Healing. Into the woods is where I have always sought healing and refuge. As a youth, when life felt hard, I could run to the farmer’s field, a short sprint through the woods. The scent of decaying leaves, flowers in bud, fresh springs were powerful medicine. Or maybe blackberry lined paths on a merry day could gladden the heart even more so. I used to walk to school through the woods and was frequently, sorely tempted to splash in the brook or stop to watch the cardinal, woodpecker, bluejay, and of course the chipmunks!
Later in my adult years, hiking in the hills of Western MA, NH, and ME hold no less inspiration for me now as they did then. Camping in the woods at Acadia is how I met my spouse. I got the last campsite on that memorial day weekend 27 years ago! One sabbatical time I hiked an average of 75 miles per week. Mountainous hiking that is… Although we live beside the ocean now, we still find time to enter the leafy cathedral to hike and camp. The leafy cathedral still calls me.
