Take a walk with me at Jug Handle State Natural Reserve. After we’ve ducked under Route 1 and descended a hundred steps, we’ll enter a boardwalk, shambly and mysterious. The Cloud of Unknowing. 
We’ll crouch down in wonder at ferns growing from the very planks at our feet. Life always finds a way. 
Stop to admire a tiny mushroom emerging from a mossy handrail. Even our brief lives are magnificent. 
Look down to make sure we don’t fall through a hole. Vigilance is helpful. 
Rest our elbows on the rickety rail and note kelp wrapped around a tree trunk poking out of the river. How did it get there? Questioning is good for us. 
We can’t walk this trail without help from the trail keepers. This tree had fallen over the bridge. Thank you, others, for tidying up my life. 
Nature has created an abstract piece of art. Let us enjoy the little things. 
Don’t forget to observe the lichen. Recognize the patterns. 
Let’s lower our eyes to see the sky. Reflection often turns our well-worn assumptions upside down. 
Our path is so much more complex than we originally thought. Textured with life’s experiences. 
It’s time to step off the boardwalk and onto solid ground. Rooting ourselves keeps us steady. 
But we can still move upwards and onwards towards the Light. Solid footing is a springboard to The Divine.
Photos © Sondra Sula.
Take a walk with me by reading my most recent daily devotional book, Meditations on Mendocino by Sondra Sula. Available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions.
If you’d prefer a daily river walk, Reflections on the Fox River and Beyond by Sondra Sula, might just be the book for you.
The boardwalk beckons. I have to duck under a fallen tree to enter. I know I can fall in love with what’s under the boardwalk, but I also know there’s plenty of fun to be had just looking over its sides.
Take, for instance, this easy-to-pass-by white flower. Look closely and each tiny bloom is an explosion of excitement.
Below the boardwalk a lazy creek meanders, reflecting the trees and sky above. Animal footprints dot the muddy shores. Moss creeps over fallen logs, intent on full coverage. An entire ecosystem thrives.
How do I thrive? By stopping to enjoy a cabbage butterfly as it rests momentarily on a leaf. By noticing a fallen pine cone’s perfectly pointed tip. By recognizing that black nightshade resembles shooting stars.
What makes you thrive? Beholding a flower? Immersing yourself in nature? Watching clouds pass by? Sitting in silence watching the stars? Listening to the laughter of someone you love? Seek out whatever it is—and then enjoy it. For it is your gateway to your own “boardwalk.”
Sondra Sula's Blog: The Nature of Spirituality 