Stargazing in the Woods

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Get more Nothing Much Happens with bonus episodes, extra long stories,
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and ad-free listening, all while supporting the show you love.
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Subscribe now. Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which...
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Nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep.
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I'm Catherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories
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you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by
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Bob Wittersheim. We give to a different charity each week,
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and this week we are giving to the Detroit Creativity Project,
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bringing free improv programs to school and community centers to
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build confidence, collaboration, and the social skills that students use daily.
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Learn more about them in our show notes. For ad-free
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bonus content or to join the virtual village through our app,
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go to nothingmuchappens.com. And this is just a note from me.
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We sometimes get messages from folks saying they wish they
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could set the show to play all night or to
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turn off at a certain point. And I want to
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tell you that your podcast player almost certainly allows you
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to do that. So give it a Google, my friend.
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I want you to have the best possible experience you
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can with our shows. And sometimes all that requires is
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typing a question in the search bar and learning what
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all the buttons do. I'm not even trying to be sassy,
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I swear. It's just that you deserve great sleep, and
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I believe you can have it. Now, as always, Let
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me remind you that all you need to do now
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is listen. I'll tell our story twice, and I'll go
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a little slower the second time through. If you wake
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again in the night, don't hesitate to push play, and
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you'll drop right back off. Our story tonight is called
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Stargazing in the Woods. And it's a story about a
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few days away from everything, and at the same time,
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closer to everything. It's also about flat stones for skipping,
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an old blanket spread under the night sky, and a
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realigned perspective to take home after the embers die. So,
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lights out campers. Snuggle down into your sheets and get
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as comfortable as you can. Let your body drop heavy
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into your mattress. And let me affirm for you that
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you have done enough for the day. Truly, it is enough.
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Take a deep breath in through your nose. Let it
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out your mouth. Nice. One more. Breathe in. And out. Good.
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Stargazing in the woods. There is a kind of quiet
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out in the woods. that is different from the quiet
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of a city or neighborhood street. Because the woods aren't
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actually quiet. There are layers of sound coming down from
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the branches as birds call and leaves rustle together. There
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are layers of sound coming up from the forest floor
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as chipmunks race and deer take sure-footed steps and insects
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click and buzz. No, the quiet that happens in the
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woods isn't in the woods. It's in us when we
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are there. That's what we came for. the quiet that
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settles deep in the bones after a few days away
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from everything else, even the things we loved. Sometimes we
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need space from them too. We made a campsite in
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a clearing under tall pines whose needles made a thick
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carpet for our tent. Around the grove of trees, There
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were pockets of open space, fields where we could walk
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or watch animals as they moved through their daily routines.
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Beyond them, far in the distance, we could see a
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rising peak of something that was more than a hill
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but not quite a mountain. We dug out a place
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for a fire and rolled out our sleeping bags, organized
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our food, and settled camp chairs in the best spot
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00:06:38.750 --> 00:06:47.519
for watching sunsets. Afterward, we wandered for a bit and
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00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:53.339
found a fast-moving stream where I trailed my fingers through
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00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:59.310
the water, then explored a path down to the lake.
66
00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:08.620
Along the way, gathering a few smooth, flat stones that
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00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:14.769
we would skip with varying levels of success across its surface.
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00:07:18.149 --> 00:07:24.920
At night, we watched fireflies. They were like moving constellations,
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00:07:26.439 --> 00:07:30.839
and I found shapes in them the same way I'd
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00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:37.980
found shapes in the clouds during the day. All the while,
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the quiet was settling deeper into my system. I was
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finding my focus again. Sometimes, in the busy blur of
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work and home, and my to-do list. My mind struggles
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00:08:02.699 --> 00:08:05.850
to stay on the path I carve out for it.
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I can't sustain my attention, and it's led me to
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forget things and leave projects half-finished. Out here, however, I
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00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:30.879
noticed that I could just listen to the morning song
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of the birds, or watch the minnows swimming circles around
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my ankles in the lake. And my senses stayed where
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I put them. It hadn't happened all at once, but
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it had happened. Tomorrow we would pack up and go back.
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I would be ready to go back then. But for tonight,
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I wanted to go a bit farther into the quiet
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and spend some time all by myself. We both did.
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As good as togetherness is, Being separate has its own appeal,
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so I pulled on my hiking boots and stepped out
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onto a trail to find a place to look at
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the stars. It was a cloudless night, and I found
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my way easily as I cleared the line of trees
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00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:57.769
at the edge of our campsite. There was a spot
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I'd been to. a few times during the week. It
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00:10:04.539 --> 00:10:07.299
was a bit higher up on a slope with a
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00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:12.190
flat rock, just big enough for me to stretch out on.
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00:10:14.909 --> 00:10:18.929
I'd gone before to look down at the lake, and
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00:10:18.970 --> 00:10:22.629
across to the tops of trees on its far side.
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00:10:25.129 --> 00:10:31.950
Though tonight, I meant only to look up. It took
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00:10:32.009 --> 00:10:36.389
a few minutes to get there. And as I walked,
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00:10:37.529 --> 00:10:42.549
I felt the path under my feet. It seemed I'd
99
00:10:42.590 --> 00:10:47.230
gotten more sensitive to finding the right way to step.
100
00:10:49.620 --> 00:10:55.570
the places where I could solidly land my boots. It's
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00:10:55.639 --> 00:11:01.309
something I forget sometimes, but we get better at what
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00:11:01.370 --> 00:11:05.470
we do habitually, whether it's a hike in the woods,
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00:11:07.049 --> 00:11:13.570
learning a new language, or even just being patient when
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00:11:13.629 --> 00:11:18.769
something goes awry. It was something my mother used to
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00:11:18.809 --> 00:11:25.029
recite Say a kind word today, and it will come
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00:11:25.269 --> 00:11:34.379
even easier tomorrow. I'd brought an old plaid blanket, and
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00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:40.399
when I reached my spot, I flung it out and
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00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:46.970
let it ripple over the flat rock, then stretched out,
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00:11:48.370 --> 00:11:53.659
tucked my hands behind my head, and crossed one ankle
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00:11:53.919 --> 00:12:03.309
over the other in a posture of sincere stargazing. The
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00:12:03.370 --> 00:12:09.600
stars were so bright, it took my breath away. I
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00:12:09.659 --> 00:12:15.759
almost couldn't bear to blink. I was used to a
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00:12:15.860 --> 00:12:23.019
night sky that shared its space with so many streetlights
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00:12:23.830 --> 00:12:29.950
and billboards and buildings, that the stars were just a
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dim part of the background. But out here, they were
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00:12:36.259 --> 00:12:46.009
the entire sky. They were astonishingly brilliant. And though they
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00:12:46.049 --> 00:12:55.200
were so far away, They felt nearly touchable. I thought
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of where I was on this rock, in this stretch
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00:13:00.259 --> 00:13:09.450
of forest, and I let my perspective expand. I zoomed out,
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00:13:11.129 --> 00:13:18.120
taking in more space. I thought of the cities around me,
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00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:26.879
then the borders of countries, the immense spread of oceans.
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I thought of myself like a tiny spark of light
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00:13:36.009 --> 00:13:41.769
along with all the billions of other sparks lighting up
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our small blue dot. I kept zooming out thinking about
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planets I'd learned to name in elementary school, suspended in
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00:13:57.830 --> 00:14:06.090
space around me. The rings of Saturn, Neptune's dark spot,
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00:14:08.980 --> 00:14:18.409
Jupiter with his 53 moons, I stretched my thoughts still
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00:14:18.509 --> 00:14:24.750
further to space beyond what we could see with telescopes
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00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:34.539
or predict with equations, figuring that out past all of it,
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00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:41.929
there wasn't likely to be a big brick wall, but
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00:14:42.009 --> 00:14:52.379
instead more and more endless expanse. Then I slowly started
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00:14:53.120 --> 00:15:01.379
to zoom back in. I pulled my thoughts back through space,
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00:15:03.500 --> 00:15:10.309
back from the planets and sun, back to our spot
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00:15:10.590 --> 00:15:17.039
in the universe. I zoomed in tighter to see the
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shape of the continents, the formations and lakes and mountain
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chains around me. I zoomed right down to my rock
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00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:38.330
and back into my body. I felt my breath moving
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00:15:38.490 --> 00:15:45.509
through my nostrils and the relaxed, slow beat of my heart.
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00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:52.240
I felt the weight of my limbs and the touch
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of my clothes. Somewhere along the way, my perspective had realigned.
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I'd come for quiet, and I'd found it. But beyond that,
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00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:18.600
I was resettled in my body and my heart, remembering
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who I was and what mattered to me. I was
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00:16:25.929 --> 00:16:40.139
ready to go back. Stargazing in the woods. There is
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00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:46.500
a kind of quiet out in the woods that is
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00:16:46.620 --> 00:16:53.190
different from the quiet of a city or neighborhood street
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00:16:55.289 --> 00:17:04.230
because the woods aren't actually quiet. There are layers of
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00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:13.509
sound coming down from the branches. as birds call and
149
00:17:13.569 --> 00:17:22.799
leaves rustle together. There are layers of sound coming up
150
00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:34.500
from the forest floor as chipmunks race and deer take
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00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:49.049
sure-footed steps and insects click and buzz. No, the quiet
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00:17:49.930 --> 00:17:57.500
that happens in the woods isn't in the woods. It
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00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:04.079
is in us when we are there. That's what we
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00:18:04.140 --> 00:18:12.000
came for. The quiet that settles deep in the bones,
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00:18:13.980 --> 00:18:22.759
after a few days away from everything else, even the
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00:18:22.819 --> 00:18:30.819
things we loved. Sometimes we need space from them too.
157
00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:40.720
We made a campsite in a clearing under tall pines.
158
00:18:43.380 --> 00:18:53.670
whose needles made a thick carpet for our tent. Around
159
00:18:53.789 --> 00:19:00.210
the grove of trees there were pockets of open space,
160
00:19:03.029 --> 00:19:10.849
fields where we could walk or watch animals as they
161
00:19:10.930 --> 00:19:21.690
moved through their daily routines. Beyond them, far in the distance,
162
00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:30.680
we could see a rising peak of something that was
163
00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:38.539
more than a hill, but not quite a mountain. We
164
00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:45.710
dug out a place for a fire and rolled out
165
00:19:46.069 --> 00:19:54.819
our sleeping bags, organized our food, and settled camp chairs
166
00:19:56.019 --> 00:20:06.740
in the best spot for watching sunsets. Afterward, we wandered
167
00:20:07.269 --> 00:20:15.299
for a bit, and found a fast-moving stream where I
168
00:20:15.420 --> 00:20:23.309
trailed my fingers through the water, then explored a well-worn
169
00:20:23.430 --> 00:20:31.690
path down to the lake. Along the way, gathering a
170
00:20:32.089 --> 00:20:41.710
few smooth, flat stones that we would skip, with varying
171
00:20:41.910 --> 00:20:52.410
levels of success across its surface. At night, we watched fireflies.
172
00:20:55.200 --> 00:21:02.119
They were like moving constellations, and I found shapes in them,
173
00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:09.480
the same way I found shapes in the clouds during
174
00:21:09.569 --> 00:21:18.769
the day. All the while, the quiet was settling deeper
175
00:21:19.690 --> 00:21:31.349
into my system. I was finding my focus again. Sometimes
176
00:21:31.970 --> 00:21:40.089
in the busy blur of work and home and my
177
00:21:40.190 --> 00:21:47.519
to-do list, My mind struggles to stay on the path
178
00:21:48.059 --> 00:21:55.279
I carve out for it. I can't sustain my attention
179
00:21:58.019 --> 00:22:04.769
and it's led me to forget things and leave projects
180
00:22:05.509 --> 00:22:14.279
half finished. Out here, however, I noticed that I could
181
00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:21.769
just listen to the morning song of the birds or
182
00:22:21.829 --> 00:22:29.089
watch the minnows swimming circles around my ankles in the lake.
183
00:22:31.509 --> 00:22:40.009
And my senses stayed where I put them. It hadn't
184
00:22:40.109 --> 00:22:50.569
happened before. all at once. But it had happened. Tomorrow,
185
00:22:51.309 --> 00:22:58.220
we would pack up and go home. I would be
186
00:22:58.420 --> 00:23:06.240
ready to go back then. But for tonight, I wanted
187
00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:13.890
to go a bit further into the quiet. and spend
188
00:23:13.950 --> 00:23:23.569
some time all by myself. We both did. As good
189
00:23:23.890 --> 00:23:34.710
as togetherness is, being separate has its own appeal. So
190
00:23:34.809 --> 00:23:42.829
I pulled on my hiking boots and stepped out onto
191
00:23:42.890 --> 00:23:49.680
a trail to find a place to look at the stars.
192
00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:58.049
It was a cloudless night, and I found my way
193
00:23:58.549 --> 00:24:05.470
easily as I cleared the line of trees at the
194
00:24:05.589 --> 00:24:12.630
edge of our campsite. There was a spot I'd been
195
00:24:12.730 --> 00:24:21.099
to a few times during the week. It was a
196
00:24:21.460 --> 00:24:27.539
bit higher up on a slope with a flat rock
197
00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:37.150
just big enough for me to stretch out on. I'd
198
00:24:37.210 --> 00:24:44.230
gone before to look down at the lake and across
199
00:24:45.049 --> 00:24:52.920
to the tops of trees on its far side. Though tonight,
200
00:24:54.160 --> 00:25:01.180
I meant only to look up. It took a few
201
00:25:01.299 --> 00:25:08.809
minutes to get there, and as I walked, I felt
202
00:25:08.930 --> 00:25:16.539
the path under my feet. it seemed I'd gotten more
203
00:25:16.630 --> 00:25:25.400
sensitive to finding the right way to step, the places
204
00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:33.230
where I could solidly land my boots. It's something I
205
00:25:35.289 --> 00:25:43.380
forget sometimes, that we get better at whatever we do
206
00:25:47.720 --> 00:25:54.259
whether it's a hike in the woods, learning a new language,
207
00:25:56.980 --> 00:26:07.490
or even just being patient when something goes awry. It
208
00:26:07.529 --> 00:26:13.650
was something my mother used to recite. Say a kind
209
00:26:13.710 --> 00:26:23.819
word today and it will come even easier tomorrow. I'd
210
00:26:23.859 --> 00:26:30.140
brought an old plaid blanket, and when I reached my spot,
211
00:26:32.500 --> 00:26:37.470
I flung it out and let it ripple over the
212
00:26:37.509 --> 00:26:47.809
flat rock, then stretched out tucked my hands behind my head,
213
00:26:50.130 --> 00:26:56.049
and crossed one ankle over the other in a posture
214
00:26:57.349 --> 00:27:05.970
of sincere stargazing. The stars were so bright, it took
215
00:27:06.130 --> 00:27:14.609
my breath away. I almost couldn't bear to blink. I
216
00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:19.950
was used to a night sky that shared its space
217
00:27:21.789 --> 00:27:31.309
with so many streetlights and billboards and buildings that the
218
00:27:31.390 --> 00:27:41.359
stars were just a dim part of the background. But
219
00:27:41.460 --> 00:27:53.079
out here, They were the entire sky. They were astonishingly brilliant.
220
00:27:55.500 --> 00:28:01.269
And though they were so far away, they felt nearly touchable.
221
00:28:03.710 --> 00:28:09.569
I thought of where I was on this rock, in
222
00:28:09.690 --> 00:28:17.650
this stretch of forest, and I let my perspective expand.
223
00:28:21.329 --> 00:28:31.130
I zoomed out, taking in more space. I thought of
224
00:28:31.150 --> 00:28:41.579
the cities around me, then the borders of countries, the
225
00:28:41.660 --> 00:28:50.670
immense spread of oceans, I thought of myself like a
226
00:28:50.809 --> 00:28:59.349
tiny spark of light, along with all the billions of
227
00:28:59.430 --> 00:29:08.839
other sparks lighting up our small blue dot. I kept
228
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:17.859
zooming out, thinking about planets I'd learned to name In
229
00:29:17.940 --> 00:29:28.980
elementary school, suspended in space around me, the rings of Saturn,
230
00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:45.039
Neptune's dark spot, Jupiter with his 53 months. moons. I
231
00:29:45.170 --> 00:29:52.819
stretched my thoughts further to space beyond what we could
232
00:29:52.880 --> 00:30:03.930
see with telescopes or predict with equations. figuring that out
233
00:30:04.130 --> 00:30:10.109
past all of it, there wasn't likely to be a
234
00:30:11.230 --> 00:30:21.119
big brick wall, but instead more and more endless expanse.
235
00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:35.269
I slowly started to zoom back in. I pulled my
236
00:30:35.369 --> 00:30:43.920
thoughts back through space, back from the planets and sun,
237
00:30:46.880 --> 00:30:55.710
back to our spot in the universe. I zoomed in
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tighter to see the shape of the continents. the formations
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and lakes and mountain chains around me. I zoomed right
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down to my rock and back into my body. I
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felt my breath moving through my nostrils on the relaxed
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slow beat of my heart. I felt the weight of
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my limbs and the touch of my clothes. Somewhere along
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the way, my perspective had realigned. I'd come for quiet,
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And I'd found it. But beyond that, I was resettled
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in my body and my heart, remembering who I was
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and what mattered to me. I was ready to go back.
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Sweet dreams.