Feelings and Places

Some places are special simply because of the way they make you feel.  To the left in this photo is the back fence of a place we used to own.  Across the fence to the south were the tangled thickets of Town Branch Creek and to the right was a small open grove of trees and then a hay meadow.  After heavy rains this area might be flooded to a depth of about a foot for about 24 hours before the water subsided.

For some reason this place always seemed to provide me with a sense of restfulness.  Perhaps it was the sunlight filtering down through the widely spaced trees which were open enough that the grasses grew and provided shade to wildlife and cattle.  There were always birds singing and flitting among the branches overhead.  It was a peaceful place.

I've noticed that other locations evoke different feelings.  We have an area on the place we now have that is a tangled thicket of vines and brush which gives me a sense of frustration.  That one is easy to decipher; what I really want to see there is what you see in this picture and I know that the effort to make it so will be extensive.

For the most part, being outdoors is restful to me.  Even when it is hot and miserable, if I can find a little shade and a slight breeze, it is a place in which to let the worries of the world bleed away and to just enjoy the sights and sounds around me.  I can simply "be."