Tuesday's postcard, and the solace of distant places

May 16, 2023

Swallowtail butterfly on blooming camas

Beyond Cellular Service

I still find it very challenging to describe the medicine in nature; the bliss of solitude. By comparison, there is so much to be said about the clamor, form and constructs of intense human relationships and communities. We are conditioned to be preoccupied with our humaness. Even when we’re pitted against one another to vie for good jobs, mates, money, security, etc., it is mostly in service to our aspirations to find our niches in society. Obituaries are all about that; how we come to our stations in life, whom we marry, whom we parent, what we do for work, and the churches, societies and businesses we associate with.

I get all that. Still, I find myself trying to be a polite ambassador for solitude, and gentle disassociation; to share the experiences of being fully immersed in a wild river or walking, quietly, listening to birdsong, currents of water; the wind in the poplars. Nature—in spite of our efforts to tame and control it—still has powerful ways to speak for itself. It can be violent, but there is no guile to it. It can be utterly beautiful, without trying to impress. In short, it’s good company, even if you’ve forgotten your phone, or find yourself out of range, over and beyond the fences of daily life, and beyond cellular service, so to speak.

With that introduction, some favorite places far from the traffic of daily life in the city.