This poem resonates with me today, we get filled with peace, and wonder when we stop and listen. I have a satellite tracker with a message I send my wife when I wander off trail and stop to take a nap by a long lost pond, or a scenic cliff that is away from the sounds of the trail. I find it fulfilling to watch as more and more things are revealed that were not noticed just because of movement, just because we don’t stop and wait. Wait, slow and stop, and listen. There are leaves that move in the slight breeze, there are ants that move underneath the trees, there are ripples in the water from feeding fish. Stop, Wait, listen. There is more than we first notice, but only if you stop, wait, and listen.

Have you ever trod the lonely trail,

So many miles from home,

Have you ever walked among the hills,

In a land that was unknown,

Have you ever sat beside a fire at night,

That only God can see,

If not you haven’t lived my friend,

You can take these words from me,

Have you ever watched the northern lights,

When on the trail alone,

Or watched a lonely eagle sore,

when a thousand miles from home,

Have you ever heard a timber wolf,

howling out his woes

Or harked to a lonely loon

when he calls out from his home,

If you’ve never stopped

to hear stopped to hear these sounds

That means so much to me,

Then You haven’t really lived my friend,

And have so much more to see,

(author unknown)