Forest Trails

I thank you, Father, for forest trails: for crunchy leaves and snapping twigs beneath my feet, for dappled sunlight, pale gold and green through the thick foliage, for bird calls and scolding squirrels, for the sound of water on stones, for the smell of growing things. I thank you for rough tree bark, bright green dragon-flies, and tattered mist strung across mossy glens.