Dear John,

I went for a long walk on Thursday to clear my head and to attempt to settle my reaction to the results of last week’s election. I still have a long way to go, and this week, I thought I’d share a quote from Wendell Berry that speaks to where I find peace and clarity. After an hour of walking around the neighborhood, I turned up my street and saw a majestic buck standing on the crest of a hill. I stopped in my tracks to admire his beauty and as we stared into each other’s eyes, I could feel his medicine pour into me. Nature is powerful. Nature is resilient. And despite how she’s treated, Nature always wins.

Here’s the quote:

The Peace of Wild Things

“When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.”

Love,
Cheryl

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