Most recently published stories in Wander.
One Saturday morning I woke up exhausted. Tired of the routine that life had spun. I was sick of not enjoying my life. So I packed, not aware of the journey ahead just following the compass of my heart. I returned to this beautiful quaint area I loved in Florida. When I was young I would imagine being swallowed up with the mermaids and being free amongst the stars and the dolphins. This place was perfect. I miss that optimism and sparkle my life once had. I just want a night of laying down and looking up. Looking up to the colors of the nights sky and its glory.
I grew up outside, like a chickadee or a farm cat. The outdoors will always be my home, when I’m inside buildings a large part of my being goes to sleep, night or day. I think many thrive inside and when they do look for nature and adventure they seek out beautiful scenes of blue lakes and thick trees that let golden light trickle in. It becomes a place of temporary restoration. This is not how I connect to nature. From gravel and dirt paths through flat fields that lead the eye out for miles, to a burning sun you want to rip out of the sky, my nature is plain; it is every day and it is breathtakingly fantastic. Even on the interstate when I pass through an area where the land swells, stretching out fat and wide, I feel my entire presence expanding to those limits. It moves rapidly to foot paths and shady spots I will never reside in.
The day is new and full of hope, hope for a better tomorrow. I didn't want to wake up today, not here. Not in this world. Let me take you back a few years; nineteen to be exact. I was just a child, a mere few weeks old, and my parents took me camping. I am talking middle of nowhere, tent for shelter, no toilet camping. I can not say that I remember every detail; in fact, there's only two things I can recall. Owls. Two beautiful white owls perched on the branch above.
The sun shone high in the noon day sky as birds twittered and bugs buzzed through the lazy heat and blue air. The tree spread her branches out wide and shook her glistening green leaves, disturbing a squirrel that was on the hunt for some seeds. He chittered his displeasure, jumping stealthy to her sister’s branch where he scurried into her depth and disappeared.
The cold breeze kisses my face in delight and then moves on to make the trees sway, cheating them out of their golden, bloody, mud, and ginger colored leaves. A few leaves drop slowly, fluttering to the ground with the grace of a butterfly. They are autumn’s snowflakes that litter the ground with all the pigment of the fall’s palette. From there, the wind continues on to caress the few birds that still remain in their nests, curled up against the cold, their wings wrapped around themselves, using their sleek feathers to keep their soft little delicate bodies warm. Flying away from the birds, the wind continues up into the sky and down to the forest floor to whisk up the fallen colors and to ruffle my red hair and redden my cheeks.
I often used to leash the dog up for a hike along the front range slope facing the Carquinez Straits. Reaching the mesa, the land stretched out in front of me in a fine California tableau of oatgrass and live oak trees. I knew that in the dark green of windbreak grove about a quarter mile back there was an abandoned ranch house hidden in the valley between two rolling hills, and it was there that I meant to go wandering with my thoughts.
Bujito Heridontus stood in the orchard looking at the knotted and gnarled trees as the moonlight illuminated the landscape in front of him. The fog rolling in was more like mist, a sort of thicker moister than fog had usually been. Bujito wondered where the fog was coming from because it was like a low hanging cloud rather than fog that rose like steam. It moved in from the north as the winds shifted to sift through each other, heading south from our summer to theirs like the fowl he watched in flight transitioning to stay with the warmth and as the cold southern winter air collided with the northern summer air Bujito was at that meeting point watching the fog take form out of nowhere to engulf the entire orchard in the morning moonlight before the light crested the horizon. He could hear the who of the owl sounding through the night in its nocturne beckoning to the change of day one hour before sunrise. Bujito had been sole witness to instance like these strange occurrences so often.
No matter how old or young you may be, there is just something magical about a fresh snow. Here in Jellico we have already received more snow this year than in the past several years combined. For the Spring gardeners out there, this is good news. Snow puts oxygen deep into the ground. Gardens will thrive even better after a snowy winter.
Visiting Singapore is most certainly an experience like no other. With massive innovation taking place over the past decades has placed this nation at the forefront of innovation and development across the globe. The governmental measures implemented to ensure that citizens have access to the best healthcare, education and recreation amenities has allowed the nation to flourish.
Thailand is well known for its vibrancy. The atmosphere envelopes you and drags you into its innermost sanctums. Your trips to this beautiful nation are bound to be dominated by smells and sights that grip you and will nary relinquish its grasp until it has had its way with you.
What if in 2021, you take the Maldives and spice up the experience to a whole new level? How about a cruise to the archipelago, where you swap the speedboat transfer to your resort with arriving at the islands in style, aboard a dazzling white ship? There's more to the excitement of course, which you can discover in this guide on how to plan a Maldives cruise in 2021.
There was a fog that covered the grassy green mountains around me as I sat outside thinking of what I was going to do next in life. The night was chilly and quiet as I wrapped myself right in my blanket. Wishing I could capture a picture of the beautiful scenery around me. There was no way my phone could capture the beauty of what was beyond my eyes.