Omayra Acevedo, Gilpin County. Bill Bryson once said, “I mused for a few moments on the question of which was worse, to lead a life so boring that you are easily enchanted, or a life so full of stimulus that you are easily bored.” Who’s Bill Bryson? Easily my favorite author of all time. I find his writing to be absolutely brilliant, witty and beyond entertaining. Perhaps, I wish we shared the same personality and in my own way, I find myself living vicariously through his words. 

As I went trudging through the woods in Gilpin County a few days ago, I found myself recalling moments in one of Mr. Bryson’s books. I kept hearing myself repeating the words over and over again in my head: When you take the world on by foot, life takes on a neat simplicity and time ceases to have any meaning. Or something like that. I smirked a lot on my walk and hid it fairly well from my companions. It was an experience meant truly for me and having to explain it to anyone would have taken away from it – at least, from my humble experiences.

Within the first five minutes of our walk, we came across a moose. She was beautiful! She watched us as intently as we watched her. I couldn’t help but feel her apprehension. And I don’t blame her one bit. Sadly, humans have been the cause of so much demise when it comes to nature. That day, however, was not a day for negative thoughts. So, I focused on how lucky we were that there were only three other people in the forest and that we could witness nature at its best. Have you gone for a walk lately? What have you seen or felt? I hope your walks are as satisfying as mine have been.

If you’re not much for reading, there’s a movie adaptation of my favorite Bill Bryson book, A Walk in the Woods, starring Robert Redford, that I highly recommend you watch.

Though, if you’re like me and tend to live with a hopeful romantic inside of you, you know that nothing beats the sound of a turning page from a good book by candlelight.

Sometimes I feel like I have nothing else to say. Then, I sit at the computer after experiencing life from a different perspective, and the words just sort of fly through my fingertips. Not all paths have official trail heads or names. They do, however, offer something you can only find by walking in the woods.

(Originally published in the September 17, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)