Death Valley – photo credit to Reena Walkling

If choosing not to fall in love meant I’d live forever. 
I would to listen to the stories of your life.

This is a rather simple tale of my love affair with nature. I was floating in the Delaware River after hiking Mount Tammany on the New Jersey side. I was spread out like a star fish on top of the water in just my underwear and sports bra. Looking up at the sky and the surrounding trees in my peripheral thinking about what I would give up in my life to be able to come to nature and enjoy her serenity.

Love is my answer; like the man in any love story willing to give up his most desired love interest for the sake of his beloved’s happiness. I laid there thinking about all the stories the trees would have to share. The things the trees, the ground, the animals have survived and lived through. I would immensely enjoy listening to Earth’s stories in exchange for my own opportunity of love. Perhaps I would come to understand love differently through her tales.