So, what's your most peaceful natural place? The place you go to recharge and reconnect...that place you think of when someone says, "imagine yourself in a totally tranquil environment"?
I'll tell you about two: one inside and one outside the beltway.
Honestly, the one that most often comes to mind when someone says "imagine your peaceful place" is way outside the beltway: Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia. I went camping there every winter in middle school and high school and I'm overdue for a trip back. You can walk for miles on the beach and not see another person, and the huge live oaks draped in Spanish moss make you feel like you could be in a world before people. I imagine myself sitting in the crook of one of those stately trees, looking out at the ocean.
The other is a spot in Rock Creek Park, on the Pinehurst Branch. It's a little-used trail and once you're a little ways off Beach Drive you can't hear the traffic. You're in the middle of DC but you could be in the middle of nowhere. At one of the stream crossings we almost always just stop and sit a little while to enjoy the peace and quiet until some noisy chatty group comes along. Sometimes that can take quite a while.
Photo credit: Steve/PhilaSilva
What's your peaceful place?