MY FAVOURITE PLACE

My Favourite Place

Everyone has a special place, a place where you can be you, where you can find peace and harmony. A place where you know you are just happy being there.

For some it's a quiet place, for others it's a hustling, bustling, full of people and movemement place. But all of these places have one thing in common; they are places where you'd run to in times of both joy and stress.

Well I'd like to share something of my place and hopefully take you there in your mind.

My Place is but a few miles from where I live in England, a little area of woodland called Ashridge. It's around a mile or so long, with tall trees stretching up to the sky, letting the light come through in shafts through a canopy of green leaves joining to make a green umbrella. There are all shades of green and browns, with the sun teasing out yet more hues.

As you walk over a carpet of soft green grass, you hear the crack of a twig once in a while, and perhaps if you listen carefully a rustle of little creatures scurrying back and forth, as they head homeward. And every now and then you might (if you're lucky) catch a glimpse of a little bushy tale as its owner stops along its way to wonder at the strange almost unelegant thing called man that has invaded its territory.

As you walk on and further in you find little dips in your path. Yes, and clearings too. At one of these along your way, you find the good Lord had the most delightful sense to place a tree stump just in the right place for you to stop and tarry awhile, drinking in all that nature has to offer you. On one such occasion I was fortunate enough to see some small deer pass by, but they must have been in a hurry because they never stopped to say hello.

So why do I like my wood? Well in days of joy it tells me of all the sheer beauty of creativity that displays itself before our very eyes. A beauty that speaks to me, saying that all this cannot just be here by pure chance. Are we not more then just groups of chemicals interacting with each other?.

And in sadder, more reflective moments, as I walk my wood tells me of other things. The trees speak to me of the fact that they keep going, keep growing, ever looking upward. I find something comforting in that, that through many years of growth that tree has persisted.

As I look at the plants, they tell me that there is a place for everthing. For some are destined to grow on the woodland floor, while others reach loftier places. But they all have their place. We should learn contentment where we are, while at the same time seeking to be the best that we might be.

The variety of animals tells me that life goes on all about me. Often the key to my darker moments is to become immersed in the life that's all around me, and soon my sadness is lost as I share in the life of others.

So that's my place. Why not join me there sometime.