A couple of weeks ago, I was in my apartment being bombarded by the loud walking of my neighbors who live upstairs from me. There are 4 people living in a one bedroom apartment right above mine. They walk from 7am to about 10pm everyday. I don’t know what they are doing, but I know that they really make me wish for some peace and quiet!

Anyway, I was just about ready to fly completely off the edge of sanity, when I thought back to a very peaceful moment in my life. I don’t remember the exact day, as there was nothing particularly memorable about the day. I recall it was a cool, breezy day, probably mid-Spring. Maybe early April. I was young. Not more than 14 years old. I had no cares. It must have been a Saturday or Sunday or we had the day off from school for some reason. The sky was that perfect blue that you see only when the air is very dry and the breeze whips away any hint of haze.

I am sure it was about noon, as the sun was high in the sky and shining brightly down through the needles of the tall pine tree that towered above me. I lay on my back, head resting on a perfectly tilted stone, staring up at nothing. The wind carried the strong perfume of pine sap and old, brown, fallen needles to my nose only to be gone a second later as the breeze picked up. The sun was at once blinding and soothing through the natural needle-blinds. It shone on my face as the wind tousled my hair and brought goose-bumps up on my arms even through my spring coat.

A few puffy clouds hastened across the sky from right to left. Their dark undersides casting shadows on the ground like so many ghostly cattle. Off to my left, the tall grass in the uncut field whistled with each breath of wind.

I could have lain there all day long. Thinking of nothing, just enjoying the sounds, smells and feelings of nature on that day. I felt privileged to be witness to something so beautiful. Something that was separate from our daily lives and yet always there.