Wandering.

I always want to know what's around the corner. If I am hiking a trail, no matter where in the world, I will always push myself to keep going out of plain curiousity of what might just be past the next bend or over the next hill. So this afternoon, I set out from my apartment to explore a park nearby. Now, when I first heard of the park just a block away from house, I was expecting a park in the California sense of the world. You know, grass field with benches, play equipment, some trees, etc. And if it's an even bigger park, I might just enjoy a man-made pond with a quint little bridge and a nice sidewalk to stroll. This park, Glover Archibald Park, was nothing like that.

With my Ipod singing me the my newly downloaded joint album of Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama, I set out down a small dirt path in a grass field that had a sign telling me this was the beginning of the park. Within 20 yards, I am on a trail that has a complete canopy covering with the trees and is in a small valley hiding it from the view and noise of the big city. The foliage completely covered the ground surrounding the small one-person wide dirt path.

Within minutes, completely enthralled with the beauty, I felt that I had left my urban neighborhood and entered into a national forest hiking path. Following a stream, the trail round through the woods up and over small hills with bridges cutting back and forth across the stream or just big rocks place to cross over. Washington DC provided beautiful weather today for my little adventure - gorgeous blue skies with a slight fall breeze.

Occassionally, a couple walking their dogs would wander by or a runner would wisk by me, but for the most part, I enjoyed the stillness and solitude of the woods. At one point, I found a small meadow/marsh to pause and journal. A while later, I found an old wood bench to catch up on my reading.

I enjoyed the beauty of the creation and ability to wander aimlessly through the woods. God's love and peace is so strong when you pause in His creation to simple enjoy who He is.

Due to my curiousity, I ended up following the path all the way to the end of the park, about 2.5 miles, and ending up in Georgetown. I then decided my best course of action was to hike over the Key Bridge to Arlington, VA, to catch the Metro home. So yes, today, I hiked to another state through the woods, over the river, under a bridge and then over a rather large bridge.. Yay for living in DC.