Going outside...

Eliza 'stretching' into her new experience of the beach.

The season of summer is a great time to explore your favorite beach, wilderness area, find a new waterfall, or go back to your favorite hike. It is a time to go outside, both literally and figuratively. We are invited to go outside our normal ways we live and to try something new, be bold, and seek an adventure. It doesn’t matter the size of one’s adventure, what matters is that we strive for something new.    
​
Here in North Carolina, we live in an area that is within an hour drive of many mountains with lush green forest trails and cooling waters. One of my favorite places to visit during the summer is the Wilson's Creek wilderness area. The drive into the area is beautiful with rushing water through the gorge. If you keep going, you will find the newly constructed visitor center; they sell maps and can point you to nice areas. If you keep driving even further, soon you will find trail heads to gorgeous waterfalls and relaxing forest trails. Janet, Eliza, and I will be going to this area very soon!

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” - Bilbo Baggins

What are the adventures waiting for you? What if all that is required of you is to step out of your front door? This could be an inner door, where you step beyond what is comfortable, or it could be the door from your car as you step into the wilderness. What inner calling bekons you, and how do you respond to it?
                                                                                                                                 

​written by John Wepner


​                                                                           -----------------------
​
**In light of going outside and trying something new, see below, a short story written by Janet Wepner for our upcoming Independence Day.
​

---

photographer Will Atkins

"Toadette’s Grand Adventure"
 
Toadette went out walking one day, or hopping rather. She was on a path that she knew well. Suddenly she tripped over a root, fell down and hit her head. When she awoke she felt the same, but different. As she passed by what used to be familiar terrain, she began to realize the trees were much younger. She finally realized she was thrown back in time to the year 1776. As she hopped along she heard word of a new nation, a new country, one free from British rule, one of a democratic rule governed by free people. 

---

A. M. Willard 'The Spirit of '76'

She knew she was in the midst of groundbreaking history, for she was a very smart toad. As she hopped along, her world began to turn fuzzy.

​Before she knew what had happened, Toadette awoke with a deep gasp of air. She took several more deep breaths as she looked around at her surroundings. The trees and terrain were exactly as she remembered them, exactly as she had left them. She was now awake from what seemed to be a dream state. Toadette felt honored to have hopped the trails of the past, whether in her mind or not. She knew the significance of July 4th, 1776, and the birth of a new nation.
​
Happy Independence Day America!

---

Short story written by Janet Wepner

​