The woods, remembering

I have started my new job in Missouri.  I like it: good people, strong company, interesting work.  I also like the city I am in now, it is smaller than where I have lived before but still big enough to have thriving businesses and lots of things going on.

A few minutes from my place is a beautiful nature center, with lovely trails and lots of wildlife: birds, squirrels, deer, turkeys, etc.  Last night after dinner I went down there and walked a little way to a nice wooden overlook where I stood and tried to open myself up to the spirit of the woods.  As I let the energy flow, and looked out over the sunlit trees, a sense built up of the woods.  It reminded me of Treebeard and the Old Forest: a sense of quiet, and a feeling like looking into a deep pool with layers of memories going back into the distant past, with the present like the gentle shimmering on the surface.  I could feel the woods remembering when it was part of a great forest that marched over all these hills, and hunters and travelers passed through.  The woods feel friendly and well-disposed towards people, and enjoy being appreciated by the hikers and joggers, but they still feel that people are just a recent invention.

As I finished, I rested my hand on the trunk of a large pine that was growing right at the side of the path at the entrance to the overlook.  I said hi, and tried to get a feel for it.  He sees himself as a sentinel, guarding the overlook, and as we talked I could feel huge waves of power flowing from him into my hand which felt warm and tingly.  I just opened my heart and let the power flow, and felt his participation in the deep memories and history of this place, and the vibrancy of the life.

I thanked him and the woods, and walked back to my car.  I love this area, and I look forward to communicating more with it.