August 17, 2016 at 02:20PM

Something caused me to stir before dawn, perhaps it was the steady thud of spruce cones landing in the dirt, dropped a red squirrel from the treetops in its endless search for food, chickadees and sparrows signally a new day, or one of the innumerable natural sounds that surrounds us. It certainly was not the mechanical shriek of the sirens, cars, trains or other “civilized” noises that we left behind nearly a year ago. The source is not important– consciousness caused me to open my eyes, revealing a golden, mist-covered surface.
Amy stirred slightly as I wiggled out of my sleeping bag and quietly slipped out of the tent. Sliding the canoe into Nina Moose Lake I silently glided through the calm silence, drawn through the fog towards the horizon’s golden glow. I knew it would be gone in minutes, but I tried to focus on the beauty, the hint of coolness and the mist that hung in the silence. Content to live in the moment, concentrating on nothing but the feel of the paddle propelling me forward– body, boat and blade, as I was held in the sun’s fleeting, golden glow.

Coffee and muesli, conversation and plans wouldn’t begin until Amy’s first smile of the day cast its own glow across my world. For now I was alone, reminded once again how lucky I am to be here. Engulfed in silence, breaking the stillness with my cupped hand, raising the cool water to my lips, I drink it all in.
Silence, water, wilderness– I don’t want to calculate or quantify them, assigning a value seems a disservice, but they are clearly too precious to risk. This place, this water, the rice in the shallows and the wildness that surrounds us belong to all of us and its up to us to speak loudly for this quite place. Visit http://ift.tt/1x2erSX and take action today.

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