Yellow

I grab the boots with the marigold stitching interlining the soles and tug them onto my feet by the black-yellow tag. I’ve devoted today to venture deep within the forest—to savor the company of the trees, the earth and the silence. To savor the time away from familiar surroundings. 

I spot two thick sycamore trees a brief distance apart; I tightly fasten my hammock onto their solid trunks with a yellow carabiniere. 

Steadying my balance as I lay within, I slouch and look out towards the view. I breathe in deeply and take in the lake full of blue ripples, lined with dogwood trees. As I look up, I see that the tree’s top act as freckles to the sky, with wind strobing the sunlight. 

In this glimpse, my mind is settled and clear. It acknowledges and encompasses the bird’s call and song, each and every influx. My eyes then are guided to movement within the water, witnessing an orange-yellow snake gliding effortlessly until it reaches the coast. The light reflects off its slippery scales, echoing the golden glow.  

I am completely consumed with a joy that paces through my heart, an unexplainable happiness that crescendos within my being. The darkness of the night is forgotten when staring into the day’s sun, and hardships seem as a vapor in the distance—known, but not abided.  

Gratitude never runs out. It is a dandelion—a gossamer dissipating with each breath of air I breathe, seeds spreading and swelling within all aspects of my life, budding the cheery yellow blooms. This is the state in which I gravitate towards; a wholeness and completeness within the joy, peace and love that radiates around me. 

I carry over to the sun and plant myself on the dense, green grass as I set my head onto the earth and close my eyes. Just as the yellow-gold illuminates on the back of my eyelids, God's incredible warmth illuminates within my heart. My thoughts are consumed—communing my mind with his—with my spirit stirring as peacefully as the wind within these trees.