The original plans for the weekend involved a packrafting trip through Canyonlands National Park. A chance to backpack and see a part of the Colorado River you can only experience from the water.
But things are changing quickly. Least of which is backcountry restrictions. All river travel permits became canceled.
Our river permit canceled for the weekend; we did not go with our original plans. Though a packrafting trip would no doubt be enjoyable, ignoring a closure would not be responsible.
Instead, Joan and I each spent a Saturday doing different things.
She took a much-needed hike. I spent the morning volunteering with a local county group and performing some cleaning. Fewer Pulaskis and more rags than trail work. 🙂
And on Sunday? We hiked together. We spent some time in an off-the-beaten-path in a place 30 minutes from home. And went to an apparent avian panel off even this secluded area.
This 800 yr old panel reminded me of a poem by Wendel Berry, The Peace of Wild Things:
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Even these local hikes could not be possible soon. For now, we find solace in the wild places around the home.
