Infinity in the Forest

Theme for January: Abundance

Monday, January 18, 2021

It might seem surprising to speak of finding infinity in an old wintry forest, but I definitely felt it this morning as we walked for about 4 miles through the Denison Pequotsepos Preserve. Somehow, wideness, distance, and endlessness seemed to be everywhere – even inside me. As we walked, I felt more like a cloud drifting in a boundless sky than a small, separate person walking on narrow trails. Somehow, my life seemed as vast as this beautiful forest, as fresh and new as the sunrise slowly showing itself above the trees. Even my thoughts seemed measureless, like stars ceaselessly flashing in the sky of my mind – a mind that actually seemed far, far wider than the sky.

I hope you can catch a glimpse in these photos of the infinity I found on the trail this morning – even in the words someone wrote on a stone beside the trail.

And here is a poem I wrote a few years ago, about a make-believe town …

IN INFINITE, FL
 
In Infinite, Florida,
residents say their minds seem boundless,
as if inside them 
a limitless range of secret skies
continuously spreads out. 
Their lives feel like 
panoramas of uncountable possibilities,
and they know their futures
are as unfathomable
as bottomless oceans.  
One man said life 
left him innumerable gifts each day,
so great that he often 
held his arms up in astonishment. 
A woman said
her satisfaction was enormous, 
as inestimable as the sunset,
and then she shouted 
and pointed to a sunset 
that she said was as huge  
as her happy life.