COUNTRY♀WOMEN #10: Spirituality

Land: Four Views

  by Sam Thomas, Bobbi Jones, Ruth of Mountain Grove

Yesterday I walked to the sea, all downhill and of course all uphill on the way back. It was good to be able to do, to feel that I had that much strength and endurance.

The walk, especially as I came in view of the wide sky and ocean, opened up my spirit, uncramped my mind. The sunset—the sun’s reflection a streak of red—spread its colors all across the rippling sea. The wind was cold.

The walk back up the rise was a challenge. Coming across a gulley in need of a bridge, I was huge old black logs from the seventeen-year-old clearcutting, young pine trees, lilac bushes all up one hill—straight up and down it feels.

This land of ravines and clearcut steep hill, of rushing streams; this land of meandering deer trails and animal holes; this land is a challenge to the body and the spirit. I need this land as much as I need food. It pulls in the back of my calves, it challenges the soles of my boots, it tests my endurance. This land stretches me.