a very cool moment

saturday nite when i went to sleep, i knew i was in sore need of gentle.
i craved it.
and decided that sunday i would go 'in search of gentle.'

our rail trail came to mind.

(they've got 'em all over the country, and if you don't know about them,
you can check to see if there's one nearby you)
(you can click here for more info)

i love ours so much.
every time i'm on it i remember how beautiful maryland is.
i remember how beautiful the world is.
and it fills me with gentle.

so that was definitely on the list.

i chose to walk instead of bike.
there's so many wildflowers out now, i feel like if i bike,
i'll go too fast and miss everything.

so i walked and looked and soaked it all in big time.

i soaked and soaked and soaked it in.
at one point, i just sat down with it all.
and as i was sitting there quietly,
somewhere behind me, i heard a tree fall.

i heard it!
and i have no idea why, but that felt so important to me.
to hear it.
to witness it going down.
i didn't see it.
but i heard it and felt it.

i sat there for a bit just kinda being wowed.
and then i wrote this -

'she heard a tree fall.
as she sat there.
she heard it fall.
'maybe sometimes the world gets to be too much
for them too,' she thought.
and then realized that at least she would be able to stand again -
and as the tree lay on the ground,
she understood how much she wanted to live.'

it was a very cool moment.