Beginning just a few steps from my home, there is a spectacular location I like to visit often. This area is where the animals live in a flawless balance with nature. The flowers bloom in a variety of radiant colors and the leaves of the trees unfold into beautiful shades of green. The air is pure, clean, and uninhibited by any foreign debris or pollution. This location is the wilderness in my backyard.
It is a bright, warm sunny day. I begin my journey at the top of the hill and work my way down the narrow path. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. My lungs are filled with the clean, pure air, a welcome change from the dense air of the crowded world. I can get lost in the wilderness. Here I am alone with only my thoughts and emotions. The breeze blows gently and whistles as it passes through the underbrush. The sky is endlessly blue, stretching for miles and miles without a cloud in sight. I suddenly realize that I can no longer hear the noise of nearby children playing, or of loud cars zooming down the street. The only sounds are those from the mixture of musical birds, of the wind passing through the treetops, and the murmuring of the stream as it flows graciously alongside the path. .
As I continue deeper into the woods, I feel one with nature. The towering pine, oak, and hickory trees hide the magnificent blue sky. Some of these trees are more than one hundred years old. They stand unchanging like the wilderness itself. I can hear the crunching of the leaves with every step I take, as I continue down the path. Suddenly, there is a rustling sound in the branches above my head. I look up and I see two gray, furry, little squirrels rapidly chasing each other up the tree. As I approach the bottom of the stream, I see a gigantic, dark brown deer with enormous antlers drinking from it. There is such great calmness here that all my thoughts are filled with tranquility.