July 29-C, 2022

Where do you go for comfort and peace?
What restores your soul?
Your connection with soul?
What do you do to experience
the goodness of place and time?

The right kind of bookstore does that for me.
And the right kind of restaurant.
Lakes and woods.
Music.
The right kind of coffee.
Rainy days.
Used to be a canoe on the water,
back when I could get into and out of one.
Driving through the Smokies
before that became bumper to bumper traffic.
And through Yellowstone
before that became bumper to bumper traffic
(And before it was washed away).
Horseshoe Bend in the Tetons.
Driving through the Canadian Rockies.
Photography.
Writing.
Reading...
And all of these things I could do alone.

The right kind of conversation.
The right kind of company
(The right kind of company
is easy to please,
without definite preferences
and hard lines,
and funny in a warm and friendly way).

A country barnyard in the stillness
and quiet of early morning.

A path through a nature preserve.

A pond with waterfowl coming in 
and going out.

Not an airport.
Not an airplane.
Not an interstate.
Not a concert.
Not a football (baseball, soccer, basketball, etc.) game.
Not a movie.
Not a city.
Not noise.

I invite you to make your own list,
and attend the things on it
in a regular and recurring way.
Beginning today.