My Walden is a tiny, forest green, two bedroom cabin, that lies hidden in the Sierra Nevadas amongst aged pines and dusty dirt roads. Sitting serenely on the back porch I feel the warm kiss of the sun beaming down, goldening my fair skin as the Huntington Lake blue sky watches calmy from above. I hear the hummingbird's hyper active wings buzzing as they sip the succulent sugar water I have hung for them; their minute metallic bodies glistening as they explore the majestic forest. I watch as the breeze blows through the trees, and cause a stirring of wind chimes, clinking and dangling effortlessly as they sing to the appreciative woods. I breathe in the fresh forest air hungrily as a baby fawn and her mother dart wary looks at me as they prance by.
I drive down Bear Paw Lane to the lake, cautious of the birds and squirrels and riveted roads as I go. Coming around the bend I pass a small brook twinkling in the sunlight and staring up at a sea of irredescent dragonflies who briefly land on the tall blades of grass. As I make my way up the last hill the lake begins to peak out at me and the most beautiful vision of blue lake dotted with an array of colorful sails, mountain peaks smothered in thick green forest, and laughs echoing their way across the water and reverberate throughout the mountain, melting away any feelings of unease.
As I begin to relax to the bobbing of the dock, a fish leaps from the depths of blue green beneath, and it's scales shimmer for a brief moment revealing its rainbow sheath to the most observant of lake dwellers. The heat of the sun makes me feel like dozing off as I bask in it's abundant warmth. Slowly, I talk myself into cooling off. I dive into the icy water and as the shock of cold subsides I enter a state of calm, an other worldly sensation. I brake the surface and gasp for air so satisfying and fresh that I immediately submerge myself once again into the lovely green world of the lake. A curious trout swims dangerously close to my foot, and peers at it as if investigating an intruder in his home. This secret world I never want to leave, but the chill of the water and irresistability of the forested world above draws me back to the dock.
As night slowly creeps in and the stars begin to show themselves, I sit around the bonfire contemplatively, watching the smoke swirl and vanish into the velvet night sky, and I wonder if I will ever be at peace like this again.