It took a bit to get away from everything, but eventually I got to a point where there wasn’t a trace of any houses or roads. The first thing I noticed were the sounds. Birds were chirping, chipmunks were running, and the wind was blowing. The constant crunch of my feet seemed to melt right in to the atmosphere of the woods. Leaves would rustle and the trees would shudder, I felt very alone and very not alone at the same time. It was like that for most of the walk, but I started to ease into it. At some points a rustle right next to me was a little frightening, but I got used to the mellow cacophony. 

The woods themselves radiated a kind of separateness. The trees didn’t grow very close together. On my walk was a field of weeds, each having carved out a residence among the mud. The woods breathed with life; everything around me was natural, which is an easy thing to forget. At some points everything seems to blend together as a brown-green mess, and at other points it seems like a picturesque scene from a movie. 

My favorite part of the walk by far was near the end. I had just finished crossing the marshier wetland when I come across a bridge. It’s not that big, just a set of tightly packed wooden boards. What I loved about it was the stream flowing underneath it. It was crystal clear, with just a hint of green. You could see the sand and the clay smashed together by the flow of the water, smooth as silk. The water bubbled and splashed, but kept flowing clean and swift. 

It reminded me how much I loved water, not just to drink, but just the power of it. Water’s all around us, but every time I see it crashing against the beach or just trickling past a few rocks, it’s always interesting. Water is the lifeblood of all of us, and it’s just a part of nature that I really admire. So, when I saw it flowing right under me, I stopped for a bit. I just watched the water sway past me.

Then I came to the last part of my walk. After I crossed the bridge I made it to a steep hill. I had to stretch my legs, but I made it to the top. I kept following the path until I found something I didn’t expect, my old elementary school. I was a little taken aback. I hadn’t been there in basically four years. I looked out to the playground, but I kept my distance because I was pretty sure that it was banned to go there because of corona. The fields looked much smaller than I remembered. At first, I thought they changed, but upon closer inspection, it was the same. A flood of memories came rushing back. I stuck around for a while, wondering what had changed since I left, but I eventually decided to turn around.

I walked back. It wasn’t that eventful. I felt like I had completed my walk, so I didn’t go as slowly as I had gone before. It was nice to get those last few moments of fresh air.

I really liked that time. It was the first time I really felt like I was observing nature. I guess it was the solitude. When you’re with a group of people you don’t get the time to just wait around for nothing. You only have to rely on what you want to do, and that’s what made it so nice.