Lost and Found

I took this photo yesterday. It is of Durand Lake in Rochester, NY.
I decided early in the day to take a walk through the park and check out the trails I have so often zipped passed on my way to where ever. What I found was perfect. The park was beautiful and exactly what I would imagine a "winter wonderland" would look like.
As I walked along with the happy little tails of the puppies leading me, I started to remember my father. He often would walk with us through the woods of our farm or along whatever river was close by and take in our surroundings. He loved to point out trees or animal tracks or whatever other little nugget of "wild" he came across. My father was a very knowledgeable man when it came to the outdoors but he wasn't someone who could identify every kind of tree. He just simply knew what he knew...and he loved to share it whenever he could.
Out in the woods surrounded by nothing but the sounds of my own footsteps in the snow, I realized that I felt at home. I looked out over this lake and thought for a second how much my father would have loved to see it and how proud he would be that I was out wandering and exploring the way he taught me to do. Isn't it funny how a park hundreds of miles from where I grew up could bring me so close to him?

Home isn't something you leave behind ..it is something you carry with you...and have always.

Peace and love
Happy New Year