Parfrey's Glen

     It takes a long walk to get to Parfrey's Glen, you must hike down a gravel lane in the hot sun for about half an hour.  Then suddenly, everything changes:  there are thick green woods with a scent of pine and moss,  a  clear, tumbling stream, and gray boulders larger than life.  This is what I imagine the Garden of Eden to have looked like... lush, cool, emerald green with moisture in the air.  There are the sounds of nature as you walk through: birdsong, insect buzz, the splash of water... unless you happen to be there on a day when other tourists are enjoying it as well.  My favorite time is to be there with only my family.  We pause at the end of the trail to stand in awe of the beauty of nature and it is difficult to turn around and leave this place.
      A few years ago there was extreme flooding that washed out the original beauty of Parfrey's Glen.  That year it was closed to the public and I grieved for what was lost.  When it reopened it was transformed, all the hiking paths were gone, old beauty was washed away.  The power of water was there for everyone to see in the devastation.  Yet there is a new beauty to Parfrey's Glen, it is wild and untamed.