It was the sunniest of days, in the mids of July. The year I don't recall. I was a boy then, doing some chores to make extra money. I was good at yard work. Raking, cleaning twigs, cutting down trees etc. I learned how to keep a clean yard from my grandfather, (my papa)he believed in hard work and in being a honest man. He was raised on a farm and worked from sunrise to well past the darkened hour. "A little hard work won't **** ya" was his motto, I sought-after.  The sun was beating hot, without the shield of a single cloud. I took all I could, until I just needed to escape the sun, for just a minute. I ducked off into the near bye woods, where I knew all the trees would protect me. Their branches and leaves all intertwined, created a umbrella that would go on for miles. I found a moss covered rock bigger then me, in a dark damp spot of this forest. Laying my head down, I stared up at all the tree leafs, watching with anticipation for one to fall. I still remember the smell and feel of those woods. The smell of serenity and the feel of unjudging thoughts. "This is how I want to spend my life" I clearly remember saying out loud (to myself.) The woods were dark and cool. Yet calming and real to me. I frequented those woods for days on, through my childhood years up through my teenage years. Something had changed me that one summer day in July. Something had shown me a new light, a much more simple way of life and our expectations.  It was calming, nurturing and protective. It was me, it was my soul,  showing me how to be like you papa. My soul showing me how peaceful life is when we are at peace with ourselves. How everything we do, no matter how trivial at the time, really matters. Like all those times papa and I sat around a fire burning the days tree limbs and debri. Thinking it was just fun, when in reality, it was the best lesson I have ever learned.
The end.