Nature in Florrisant
34 million years old. I can't even fathom that I am standing
on ground that was once soggy and covered with ferns and bugs. Air that could
have been sliced through is now arid and breezy. This place, this unfamiliar
place, has a story that undermines the hard ground and flowering atmosphere.
The ground is now covered with wildflowers, native grass, and rocks from the Pikes
Peak formation. Small ants carrying food to their den form a tiny shifting line.
When you look down all that you can see is dryness. The soil crunches as you
step, small branches, and pine needles line the way of paths taken before by
man. I look around and the blue sky and white puffy clouds move quickly through
the atmosphere. The winds are light but strong, and the smell is that of
nature. I can hear pines trees swaying in the background, and bees buzzing by
my ears. The sun is warm and beaming down on my forehead. I feel a sense of
calm knowing that most of the wildlife is sleeping during this warm afternoon.
Gazing around I see the grand trunks of petrified trees in the distance. To
think that, underneath my feet there are fossils of bees, birds, and
butterflies that have been compressed for perhaps a million years or more. This
place is ancient and undiscovered, it is magical. There is nothing in this
world that can tell a story like a preserved shell of life. No matter how out
of touch I am with nature, no matter how distant I am from this place, I now
know a secret. This land has been here for many years before me, and I am but a
compressed shell of myself. I feel connected to the Earth at this moment, but
it won't last. I will soon walk over this crunchy path to my vehicle, wipe the
Earth off my feet and return to the pavement treadmill of life that I live. Off
to the world I know, keeping only the memory of the sun on my cheeks and the
wind through my hair.
beautiful colors!!!!!
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