Starting out on a hike early in the morning
Enjoying the exercise as we climb uphill
So good to be heading into the woods again
On a beautiful springtime day with you.
The songbirds sounding all around as we pass
The new leaves on the trees glowing in the sunshine
The sweet honeysuckle in the air intoxicating us
Truly this is a delightful place to be alive.
We are just about entirely alone here
Meaning no other people are anywhere near
Making it possible to view the wildlife
Undisturbed if we keep quiet and move slowly.
To walk a trail under the forest canopy
For me is a kind of memory lane travel
Going where nature shapes the contours of the land
That captured my imagination when I was a child.
Looking around seeing as if for the first time
Because nothing stays the same on this earth
And yet everything here feels completely familiar
Like I have seen it countless times before.
The static silent photos I collect along the way
Rendering the world into two dimensions
Lovely as they may be to look back upon
Do not begin to convey the experience itself.
Neither can these abstract words express it
Something that exists independently of language
But I think you know what I'm talking about
If you like to follow a path to see where it goes.
