All in a golden afternoon, under the skies of cloudless blue 

I took myself on a little wander

Testing my new running shoes

The mustard and buttery yellow cottonwood canopy beckoned

Oh how the orange coyote willow glow

The purple asters beginning to go to seed, 

Their creamy puff balls a treat for the fingertips

The bourbon and earth smell of mesquite

I want to bottle it, the petrichor of the riparian bosque

Undiluted pleasure for all the senses 

Prickly pear pokes, its fruit ripe magenta, brilliant beet, staining my hands

Catclaw sticks to my canvas hiking pants

As I make my way towards the river

Still rushing from the mid-fall storms

The sandhill cranes have taken over the middle islands

The sandy banks are slippery here

A porcupine quill, a covey of quail, a pack of coyote

We make eye contact and nod hello

In all my life, through all my trials

I’ve never felt so grounded

I’ve never felt so tied to a land, a mountain

My heart has never been as full unless it was tied to a person

Here, alone, I am whole, rooted

This forest is my happy place

This land, enchanted