This place has a way of sending echoes into my life that resonate and return to me at moments where I'm far away from the computer. I noticed it, for example, the other morning, when I went out to the woods to walk for a while until the path hits the Missouri River. I got about 25 steps into my walk, and bang, some of the talk here about going barefoot that I've read popped into my head. So, I headed back to the car, kicked off my sandals, turned back around and went on my way. I was rewarded with a huge patch of mud at one point on that hike. The way it caked on my feet felt like a big cold hug from the earth below. So for about a week now I've been doing nearly everything in my life barefoot, which isn't an entirely new experience for me as I have done so during other periods of my life, but this time it feels like it has more of a context.
I'm also consistently awestruck, challenged, and inspired by the way language and story are reclaimed, redefined, and remembered inside this little community. You all weave words so beautifully here!