When despair grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
— Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things
Ryan and I began our second day in the park with a hike up Stony Man. This is the second highest peak in the park, and the most northerly of the Blue Ridge Mountains, at 4,000 feet. This hike was marked by a ton of great vistas along the trail, culminating in a rocky lookout point from which you could get a stunning view of the mountains. The morning mist was clinging to the valleys, but it was clear enough to get a stunning view of the town as well.
Read More
