I just returned from a week in the Cook Forest.

More than any ingested substance or pharmaceutical, more than any mental health expert or spiritual guru, the forest, and that forest in particular, provides me both therapy and medicine, immediately and powerfully, impossible to replicate with human intervention and innovation.

I biked, kayaked, ran, hiked, climbed, meditated, and had the opportunity to complete sun salutations atop a large, flat boulder on the bank of the Clarion River…as the sun rose.

I brought a prayer bell and a kalimba with me.  I played and recorded those outdoor sessions as well as natural sounds around me and across the week.  By Saturday, I had a sonic sampling of my experience.  Playing the kalimba reminds me of my time in Kenya as a Peace Corps volunteer.  You may remember the story, “Moses Chege,” from a recent D2D post.  I revamped that story as a spoken tale and edited in some of the sounds from my time in the forest.

I hope you enjoy it.

-G

  Moses (far right)