In The City and In the Woods

Washington D.C.. All the stories and lessons, news and TV shots I'd seen a thousand times before, plus all my imagination was allowed to fill in. It now came to life. I should have seen it before, but at my age now I could truly appreciate what it meant, and even feel humbled. In awe even as I disagree with so much that goes on there. It was like strolling through an adult theme park. Instead of giddy fun, I felt the surge of knowledge and the importance of experience. Instead of a roller coaster, it was the elegant, austere, and classical monuments.
And so just like that, in a day and a half, I felt as if I was more enlightened to the identity of this country. And the song I kept hearing reminded me I AM proud to be an American. But also further ingrained in me the idea of the basic human rights that made the start of this country so important, beautiful, ugly and chaotic. And then reminded me why I am so bewildered by the leaders and people of this country sometimes. And so from here, the "first city" of white houses and black presidents (and mostly black residents), I kept rolling, out of the heat and sweat and contradictions, out of the city, and in to the woods of Virginia.

I followed the highways out towards Shenandoah National Park. I didn’t know what to expect, but this place was special. Not very wide, but long, and only comprising the ridge of a chain of hills, it was a unique and peaceful place. While driving in, I criss-crossed the Appalachian trail. I found a pull out and a trailhead. After only a few minutes away from the road, I got the sense that it was a refuge. After just hiking in a little bit, a peace washed over me. A butterfly fluttered by as I walked. It landed on a leaf. I tried to take a perfect picture of it. It seemed to sit there as I tried. Bright blue against the light green of the broad leaf.

The infinite still woods behind. I kneeled down and tried to hear, actually hear. The trees spoke, the wind sang quietly, the birds answered, and the butterfly didn’t move. Another insect joined our circle, and stayed with us. I was at peace knowing this could happen, and I made some connection. All death and life seemed to make sense for a little while. I didn’t have to go miles and miles into the wilderness to find this. I just needed to get away from the madness and stop. As I left, the insect stayed and the butterfly flew off into the forest. There was no aching to see more, I was satisfied. No regret for what I hadn’t seen. But I had seen a lot that day.