Hiking in Alien Terrain

Today, hiking the Grindstone Trail at Pilot Mountain State Park, I came upon a fallen pine tree. It lay across the trail and where the bark had been scraped off by hikers crawling over it's now lifeless, dry trunk, there were intricate patterns, delicate carvings - swirls and curls - along the wood. These remnants of insects' travels beneath the bark looked for all the world like hieroglyphs carved, perhaps by the tiny hands of some alien creature in an effort to communicate an immortal and holy truth. I decided then and there, that this theory was indeed true. I stood in a sanctuary upon holy ground.

It is wonderful how the magic of imagination can bring real spirit to my days.