An hour. Not much, but a great respite in the middle of a day that left me feeling like yesterday’s recycled paper towel.

Yankauer Nature Preserve is just north of Shepherdstown, WV off Scrabble Road. I arrived following Google directions which brought me through Hagerstown, MD, then down I-81.  I’ll go through Sharpsburg, MD, and Shepherdstown, WV, next time…more scenic.  After it was all done, I came back to Frederick that way.

Stepping onto the trail at Yankauer,  my senses were overcome.  Cedar permeated and the quietness invited me in.  I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes.  The woods said “hello, we are happy you are here.” I answered, “thank you, thank you for being here.”

The path wound through the brightest of green grass.  New spring grass, still fresh and untrampled.  Later, after spring goes and summer marches in, the grass will become hard and brittle in the intense MidAtlantic heat. 

But for now, it’s new and inviting, begging for bare feet, picnics, laughter, and, possibly, a glass of wine and holding hands.  I was in love with this moment.  A kodachrome blip on my day of black and white. 

Here’s to living in color. Raising my glass…Hike on.