If you stay real quiet, you can hear the Spirits whisper....

There are a few places on this earth where you will be "healed" just by breathing in the beauty of it. During my recent little sabbatical, I snatched my kids, the Luxury Van, and we joined a few friends for a few days of camping at Indian Grinding Rock State Park.

As we drove up to the entrance of the camp ground, a deer was sitting off to the side, watching us. He was cool and collected, and did not seem to care about us at all. The kids were hooked, and could not wait to jump out of the van and explore. I was instantly relaxed by the calm aura of this place....

My kids and their friends had a blast, and were exploring from early in the morning till late at night. A few of my friends joined us for the day who I have not seen for a while and missed :). We went on hikes, and just sat around to eat smores and drink wine around the fire.

I went and hugged the beautiful, 600 year old Mother Tree. Call me crazy, but this tree spoke to me, I could feel the strength through the bark. I sat down on her roots, leaned against her strong trunk, prayed that I would not get bitten in the ass by a snake, and just took in the energy she gave me. This place is magic. It is still used for many Native Indian ceremonies, and you can feel the spirits. There is also sad history, as the Indians were driven out by the gold seekers....but it seems that the spirits there have forgiven, or they knew that I needed to be there for strength.

Here are some pictures to share. I have many more of the children running wild across the meadow, making bows and arrows, exploring the woods alone in little packs (with their walkies strapped to their butts :)..), running in and out of the reconstructed Indian Village....but we must respect that not everyone wants their kids plastered on my blog :).

So, enjoy.

(pic on top of page: View from my van, where I sit with the door open, in my jammies, with my coffee, and breathe..)