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| photo by donna - PineGroveFurnanceStatePark, CumberlandCounty, Pennsylvania 2010 |
Time seems to melt away...
A
young girl, long blonde hair streaming behind her like golden ribbons
in the glow of the morning sun, runs through the meadow.
Her
heels seem to catch the warm summer breeze as she nimbly leaps over the
small brook that meanders its way from the mountain headwaters forming a
natural and informal border between the meadow and the wild blueberry
patch at the edge of the forest.
Reaching
the blueberry patch, she slows to a walk and then stops to catch her
breath for a moment before deftly plucking a handful of plump ripe
blueberries from the low bushes. The girl adjusts the old, but sturdy,
knapsack that is slung over her shoulders and begins popping blueberries
into her mouth savoring each berry one by one as she continues on the
familiar path leading into the sanctuary of the forest.
Entering
the coolness of the forest, beams of warm sunlight stream down through
the canopy of long reaching branches of tall pin oak and eastern white
pines. The girl's senses are filled with the aroma of dried pine
needles fallen in seasons past.
She
removes her worn canvas sneakers baring the soles of her feet to the
comforting sensation of the fallen pine needles which softly cover the
forest floor.
Stowing her shoes in her knapsack, she sets out upstream on the path following the contours of the mountain stream. She
sets into an easy pace listening to the melodious music of the mountain
stream as it dances and swirls over and around the sandstone pebbles
and cobbles rounded by the waters of uncounted years.
In the near distance, a woodpecker strikes an echoing staccato tattoo.
She
arrives to her favorite spot; a natural undercut in the stream bed has
created a small waterfall and she steps into the eddy at the base of the
falls. The water is cold but feels delightfully refreshing.
Stepping
back up onto the stream's shallow bank, she is careful not to disturb
the beautiful lacy moss covering the forest floor like a delicate
carpet.
Shaking the knapsack
from her shoulders, she plops down on the ground leaning back against a
large tree and sighs in delight as she takes the book from her
knapsack...
Time melts away...
...As
she turns her gaze away from the window, a smile warms the age-worn
face of the woman. Slowly, she reaches to pin back a renegade tendril of
her long silver hair that has somehow managed to escape the thick braid
loosely tied with a ribbon of gold.
