To some, maybe most, a visit to the forest is an event. An event in
the same category as going to a movie, or shopping, or attending a
sports event. You go. You look. You take pictures and you return home.
To me, it is more. I go back to myself. I go because my soul remains
in the forest and I will become ill of heart if I cannot return there.
I go because I have never completely left.
Life can turn you toward choices that take you away from your soul’s
place. You can truly lose your way. You lose the rhythm of the day,
the season, and the smell of mossy life.
To some, maybe most, it does not matter if the visit to the forest is
brief, or postponed, or even never taken. For the forest is no longer
a part of them. To me, the lack leaves me an empty shell.
By Cindy Iberg, Pennsylvania Forest Landowner