"I Remember..." photo: ©CAndersonTX

I remember a hundred lovely lakes,

and recall the fragrant breath of pine and fir

and cedar and poplar trees.

The trail has strung upon it,

as upon a thread of silk,

opalescent dawns and saffron sunsets.

It has given me blessed release from care and worry

and the troubled thinking of our modern day.

It has been a return to the primitive and the peaceful.

Whenever the pressure of our complex city life

thins my blood and benumbs my brain,

I seek relief in the trail;

and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn,

my cares fall from me -

I am happy.

HAMLIN GARLAND