We spend entirely too much time cursing the universe for what it has taken away from us. After two weeks on the road away from distraction, away from jobs, away from worldly expectations, I am enlightened by the very natural universe that I had hated.
Filtered golden sunlight flickered through the redwoods like a million twinkling eyes, a thousand golden smiles, a hundred warm embraces.
Serenity revives the soul. Serenity clears the angry mind. Serenity cushions the grief.
We have taken on nature through winding cliff-hugging roads, through icy mountain terrain, through approaching animals large enough to obliterate us both from this vicious world. Returning to our lives–renewed, rejuvenated, reconnected– we confront brutally unforgiving nature once again. With the lowest of valleys comes the highest of peaks. Through the horrendous shines the most beautiful.
Laura Gaddis 