out of the woods

The drive on the Turnpike North to 195 East hasn’t gotten any easier for me. There are a lot of things that haven’t gotten any easier for me, even though they should have by now.

After spending the afternoon with a friend and her baby, eating my favorite sushi and walking on the boardwalk, it was time to go home. There were a couple hours of daylight left when I passed a sign for Allaire State Park.

It had been nearly two years since I visited Allaire on a geocaching mission. The trails in the park are unmarked and everything looks the same. We had lost our way and ended up having to rely on the GPS and some pretty good bushwhacking skills to get back to the car.

This time I was alone and without GPS. I walked and walked. I watched where I turned and what landmarks were at those turns. The sun began to set and I arrived safely back to the jeep and headed home. In a way, that walk in the woods was symbolic. I thought about the fact that sometimes, we have to purposely put ourselves in uncomfortable, challenging positions...we have to walk into the woods just so we can learn how to walk out.