Green Mansions

After three years on a windswept, Aleutian island known for its harsh climate, violent and rugged beauty in the shape of desperate rocky cliffs dropping hundreds of feet into crashing and frigid seas, I am restful in a new location and a very different climate.

Here I am peaceful, nestled in layer upon layer of variegated verdant wooded hills and winding roads. The sun glows through waving green treetops and glares off the surface of a slightly mossy pond. I am calm. I can breathe. There is space.

Tiny spotted frogs and silly orange salamanders challenge my steps and my dog's snuffling nose as we make our way deeper into the (rather buggy, but lovely) woods each morning. I have adopted this hundred acre wood as my own green mansion. It's not quite a jungle, but it will do in this short pause before we move on to another coast and another life, and time speeds up again.