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Burbling Water

Water gurgles and churns out of the rainspout right next to my desk.  It is on the other side of the wall, but the walls are thin and I feel as though I am in a burbling stream.  It is a pleasant and soothing sound. 

It makes me think of late spring and early summer days in my childhood.  I remember the beauty and freedom of exploration in the Pennsylvania countryside.  We tromped for hours through the woods and pastures.  We had cookouts and climbed trees.  I remember a beautiful old stone house with a spring where we would get fresh ice-cold water with a cup that the woman who owned the house left out for us to use. 

It was a time when a child could leave the house in the morning and return in time for supper.  I loved climbing trees.  The feeling of safety I got sitting in a tree is something I still seek to recapture.  There was a mulberry tree with a rudimentary platform tree house that I spent untold hours in reading books.   Those are lovely memories and more. 


The more is the feeling of contentment that I felt then and there.  The rest of my life was chaotic.  There was anger, violence, abandonment, and pain in my home.  But, out in the tree—forest—nature was a completely different experience.  I am grateful to have the clear memory of that feeling.  It is what I believe true peace of mind feels like and it is the feeling I reach for in my daily meditation.  I sit here today seeing the trees out of my office window and hearing the gurgling water and I am grateful to feel it again.
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