Freedom

Recently, America celebrated our Independence Day. It’s a day of celebration marked by BBQ’s, picnics, parades and in the evening, huge displays of Fireworks.

In the past, I have had the opportunity to celebrate the 4th in Washington D.C and Philadephia, Pennsylvania. Each experience was unique, filling my heart with patriotic pride and gratitude to live in a country honoring and celebrating freedom.

This year, I celebrated differently. While I enjoy seeing fireworks, I do not enjoy how terrified the pets are whenever they pop loudly. So, I prefer a quiet celebration.

For me, that meant hitting a couple of trails. I began the first trail at daybreak, about 6:00 am. Light enough to see the trail, but early enough to see the sunrise through the trees as I walked the mile-long trail to the river. Today’s adventure began at MillStream Gardens. There was no one on the trail that morning and I walked through spiderweb after spiderweb. I feel alot of mixed emotions whenever I walk through them. On one hand, I am afraid of spiders and get annoyed when they insist on building a web across the trail. They have the whole forest to play in and I wonder why they choose the trail to spin such intricate displays. On the other hand, I feel kinda bad that they spent the whole night toiling over their labors and in a brief instant, I walk through and destroy their hard work. It doesn’t matter how much I try to avoid them, they remain unseen until I feel the sticky webs on my arms and sometimes my face. The spiders themselves are small and harmless. My only wish is they would leave the trail alone and build their webs out in the woods. But, I guess that is the freedom they get to enjoy. Freedom to build wherever they choose until I walk through and invade their space. Sorry spiders…..

Spiderwebs aside, the morning hike was spectacular. I sat on boulders in the water and watched the sun rise above the trees. Peace. Joy. Gratitude. And I reflect on what this days means. The celebration of the birth of a nation. Freedom to celebrate in ways that mean the most to me. For some, it’s the hooplah of family gatherings, picnics, bbq’s, the spectacular light shows of fireworks at dark. For me, its sitting on a rock in a river, watching the sun light up the area as it greets a new day. Listening to the sounds of birds and the cascading river. This is my freedom.

After a couple of hours, I make my way to Amidon, which is very close to my home and where I spend most of my time enjoying the great outdoors. By the time I arrive, others had also gathered there to enjoy the day. While I prefer to hike in solitude, I venture on, but this morning, I wade the river and explore the other side. Nobody is there and I can still enjoy exploring in peace. The cool water is refreshing as the temperatures start to rise. I have to do more climbing and navigating around and over huge boulders on this side of the river and it’s worth it. As I have said in a different post, nature never disappoints.

It’s exactly how I love to celebrate freedom…celebrate life. To live and enjoy my life as I want…doing the things that bring me joy…..activities that make my heart sing. And oh, how my heart sings surrounded by the beauty of nature.

I’ll carry this feeling throughout the coming days, when the celebrations are over and the country is back to work. When the stresses of life return and responsibilities of every day life are a constant reminder. I’ll remind myself of this day, the feelings I experienced and the gratitude will wash over me. Grateful to live in America. Grateful of the freedoms I get to enjoy. Grateful to celebrate in my way. Grateful to enjoy nature and it’s beauty. Dare I say, even grateful for the occasional spiderweb that crosses my path.

This is pure freedom, to me.

With love from the trail,

kk