Today’s connection is dedicated to Taylor who I haven’t seen in almost two years… and my sunglasses. As in, here you see them, here you don’t.
After a day of sunning at the pool, we three (Amy, Taylor and I) hiked through the jungle at CREW. It was a beautiful night with a rainbow above us as we drove to the park entrance. The rain that had been pouring down happened to stall and then stop just as we hit the trail.
The first sign hugging the trail ahead of us had a huge image of an alligator and warned how to share the trail with them. “Share the trial?” I turned to Amy who already knew the hair on the back of my neck was up in hackles.
“You’ll be fine,” she reassured. “I will protect you.”
Taylor then said, “Jamie, I would have thought you would love nature.”
“I do,” I confirmed, “I just don’t love the alligators and snakes in this part of the world.” I grew up in the mountains, in the north, a land without prehistoric creatures that run on all fours.
As we weaved down the trail, I focused on the beauty all around me and began to pay attention to the flowers, snapping photos with my new iPhone 13, mesmerized by the photos.
I got lost in the magic of Mother Nature and all the birds and flora and fauna surrounding me. So many species that don’t exist up in the North. Like a foreigner walking through a foreign land I took photos documenting every bit of it.
Until I sneezed.
Luckily I held onto my phone but I did not see my sunglasses falling through the air until it was too late. They hit the deck once and then bounced right through the bottom of the fence line into the water below. The water that, for all I knew, was housing a team of alligators looking for dinner.
I looked up at Taylor and then Amy and grimaced.
My sunglasses were gone. They were now an offering to the land below our feet, “under the boardwalk out of the sun.”
We kept walking until we came to a pass of water. Just on the other side was a large Great Blue Heron walking slowly into the distance.
A hush came over all of us as we watched him walk down the path and then slowly take flight and swing through the air into the trees. It was a sight to behold.
As we left the trail I was relieved to still have my new phone and all the photos on it. I may have lost my sunglasses but the lesson was not lost on me: the most magical things always happen in nature. Whether it is a walk with amazing friends or visit from majestic creatures. (I’m just glad it wasn’t an alligator.)
More tomorrow,
Jamie
P.S. It was so good to see you today, Taylor. Let’s not wait two more years to connect.
The Promise 365 
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