Do You Have One?
Each one of us needs a place to go to when we need to escape the hustle and bustle of our individual world. Where we can be alone with our thoughts; our need to figure out a problem, or want to be where there are no pulls on our life. That place might be real, imagined, or conquered from the recesses of your mind. But you feel welcomed, loved, honored, and invited. A place that beckons to your very soul.
I have always been able to find that place for me in the woods. As a child it was under a giant weeping willow tree whose branches were so thick and long they would sweep the ground, I could go through the curtain of branches to a quiet, shady, cool world where even the rain did not venture in. I spent as much time as I could leaning against the trunk of the old tree, hidden from the world and my siblings. As we got older and I became the main caregiver for my younger brothers and sister I let them into my secret place and it became a playhouse and afternoon napping place. I would read to them or make up stories while we rested under the branches of the old tree.
Where ever I went in my travels as an adult I would find a place I could escape to. A park or place in the woods, as long as it was away from prying eyes, crowds, and most of all people. I enjoy the solitude and would find a place to go to whenever I found the time. I like people, don’t get me wrong, but I also need to just be quiet and rejuvenate.
When I first got married we lived on the outskirts of the military installation my husband was assigned to. There was a forest rangers tower at the edge of the base that was unmanned at the time. I would climb to the top of the tower and watch the woods below and the valley as far as I could see. If I went in the middle of the week no one else would be around and I could set up there for hours at a time.
I have found many such places over the years, in Europe as well as The United States. My fondest place of all and one I can always go to in my memories was in Washington State. I owned 3 acres on the edge of a town in the foothills of Mount Rainer. The property was almost completely wooded with a babbling brook running through the middle of it. We cleared a lot of the underbrush out so you could get to the many berry bushes that grew wild. We also planted fruit trees along the edge of the brook. On the back side of the property were some old redwood tree stumps. These were old-growth trees that measured 20 to 30 feet around. Most had deteriorated to piles of redwood chips. But there was one that had been cut off about 5 feet from the ground and had huge roots that lay on top of the ground. You could set down between the roots with your back against the stump. The ground was soft from the moss that grew around the old stump. If you have an imagination as I have it would seem you were setting in a big comfortable armchair. The woods smelled of pine and wildflowers; the water in the nearby brook sang a sweet song as it meandered on its way down from the mountain.
When I could get away from the house; that I was using as a home for the elderly, I would go to the tree to read a book, figure out a problem or just be alone with my thoughts. The wildlife had gotten so used to my visits that squirrels, rabbits, or birds would come right up to where I was setting. I would bring something to feed them or just talk to them.
I used to bring my 5-year-old granddaughter to the old tree and we would spend hours talking and telling stories about animals that lived in the forest. It became her favorite place too. Now I can only go there in my mind; how I wish I could go back. I would take my great-grandson, show him the old tree and tell him about the forest. Introduce him to the animals and float a boat in the brook.
Do you have a secret place you can go to recoup from your daily life? I encourage you to find that place, even if it is only in your memories. The bible tells us that Jesus when out early in the morning to a quiet place. It doesn’t tell us what all He did there. I like to think it was His secret place.
Leave a Reply