i
have been fortunate in this life
for
i have walked trails where none has been before
and
followed in the footsteps of a thousand others.
I
have taken worn paths,
leading
to mountain peaks,
of
lakes
and
old abandoned mines.
i have
entered into caves, no one else has been,
or
if they had,
there
was no sign
and
walked in the lighted darkness
of
caves open to the public.
Did
i say that i had fear in those i believed no one had been?
i
did and i am not afraid to say,
but
the wonder of it was great.
i
found fossils of sea creatures
now
found on dry land
and
minerals spewed onto the earth,
millions
of years past.
I
have fished in streams and lakes,
where
cold water flowed
and
in a deep and green gulf.
I
have gone horse back riding,
on the
dusty trails of the Big Bend
and
taken canoes down a swollen river.
I
have slept under the stars,
in
a lonely place
and
mixed with a million people in the big cities.
I
have seen the sad dance of the Cherokee,
reenacting
their "Trail of Tears",
for
all to see
and
walked with an Indian chef,
as
a child.
I
have huddled in shelter,
hiding
from a mighty hurricane
and
been blown around in a thunderstorm.
Rivers
and
lakes
and
oceans have been a playground
and
i have swum with the dolphins.
I
have enjoyed Spring
and
Summer
and
Fall,
but
rarely winter.
I
have saved a child from drowning,
in
the crashing waves off St. Louis Pass
and
been saved by my own father,
when
one cased me off the Galveston Jetty.
I
traversed the Rockies,
from
Texas to and into Canada,
by car
and foot and plane.
I
have seen all the national parks,
from
the mountains to the East coast,
but
never the West coast.
I
beheld
and
held onto,
the
Rocky Mountain's majesty,
but
preferred the quiet solitude,
of
the Appalachian trail.
I
saw the Gulf of Mexico,
from
Mexican shores
and
ate tortillas from a street side vendor.
I
was in the quiet square,
of
a sleepy Mexican village
and
the bustling market place,
of
a boarder town.
Beaches
and
Mountains,
Plains
and
caves.
Field
and
Forest,
I
have been,
with
eyes wide open
and
nostrils wide,
absorbing all they had to give.
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