What's the Most Exotic Place You've Traveled?

You'll be surprised by my answer.

When many of us think of places to which we’d like to travel, we immediately respond globally: London, Paris, Egypt, Greece, the Galapagos Islands, Iceland, Belize ... naming only a few.

Global communication only began in the early 20^th Century with telegraphy, telephony and radio. Now, with mobile phones and the internet, we have access to anything and anyone, and our dreams of places to travel take us to the far horizons of the corners of the world.

When asked where my favorite places to wander are, most people are surprised when I say that I haven’t really traveled at all. They look stunned by my answer. When they ask why, I respond that I haven’t seen all the amazing places on Long Island, NY yet. They still appear quite stunned.

Now, I suppose if I had more means to travel globally, I might. Just typing ‘the Galapagos Islands’ in this post made my heart beat faster. And yet, my heart beats faster every time I wander to my favorite places locally, and by wander, I mean really wander. It’s not a hike. There’s no counting steps. I may stand in one place for an hour or more, like I did this past week.

A friend and I decided to celebrate our respective birthdays together. Hers was last week, mine is this week. We decided to go wandering.

We stopped first at a local preserve. The lake was stocked with trout a few weeks ago and there were still 4 or 5 Osprey hoping for some straggler trout and a meal. Meals never seem to be easy for the Osprey, though.

You have to look closely to see them, so high up, watching the water for signs of fish!

Photo: Linda Lombardo

They fly, circle, and then hover as they look down at the water. Suddenly, they dive turning feet first at the last minute. There’s a huge splash and then, their heads bob up. It’s only when they take off from a seemingly impossible place to get lift off that you can see if they’ve been successful. Most of the time, they are not, and yet they do it again and again.

Watching them prepare to dive, and then, change their minds, we championed them to try again, and again, to make the dive. Some did, some didn’t. It was a good day for the trout!

We wandered on the trails and over one of the bridges in the preserve. Looking down, we spied some Red-eared Slider turtles swimming along. Their color, the color of the water, looked like a painting. That was worthy of a stop, and witness until we couldn’t see them anymore.

After our time with the Osprey, and our short wander on the trails, we took a drive to the southern most part of the preserve, separated by local highways, to view the Bald Eagles.

There were Osprey there, too, along with the Eagles, adult and juvenile, which resulted in sky battles as they vied for territory.

Not my best photos, and remember how high up all this is happening!

I imagined the Herons in the waters below sighing at their antics. Herons know how to maintain stillness; how to wait and watch. We too, kept still, witnessing the beauty of everything around us.

We would have wandered back north of the preserve again to see the Great Horned Owl’s nest and the nestlings/nearly fledglings, yet standing still to witness Nature takes time, and it was time to head home. The owls were right there at the lake last year. I think all the photographers gave them the idea to try a different spot, even though the photographers found them again this year. For us, the owls would have to be a wander for another day.

From last year’s nest. Notice the owlet to the left of Mamma Owl?

Back to my theme of traveling … If I could do this every day for a year, I might get to all the natural places here at home. Maybe then my heart might turn to more faraway places, and I somehow doubt that.

Visiting a place, especially a natural place, seeing it once isn’t my style. I visited Maine with friends a few years ago, and my heart is still being called back to Maine. Once was not enough. I know those trees, those rocks now, and they know me.

Just a few photos from my Maine adventure!

For me, Nature is personal, and here where I live, I return in every season to see how each of these special places is doing. I still remember a tree at a preserve where I lead walks, and how my heart sank when I found it struck down a few years ago. When I’m leading walks there now, I stop at the spot where that tree was and silently say, “I remember you.” I believe the other trees around it remember it, too.

I know where I saw the fox, where the tree with the ‘wild hair’ is, how the sounds of the Great Horned Owl echo through the forest at dusk where I lead wildlife programs. I remember finding the heart shaped mossy rock in one of our pine forests. It’s not the Mona Lisa, I know, and it might have been for me.

Perhaps I should have been born in a different time ... and maybe I was, if you hold any belief in past lives. And being here now, maybe this land, here where I live, is my stewardship. Far away places have their own stewards, and one should be invited on someone else’s stewardship. As Maine continues to invite me back, maybe if I traveled more, there’d be more invitations to return. Oh my. That’s something for me to consider.

Traveling and exploring your own home isn’t an ‘either/or’, it’s a ‘both and’. Don’t let my closeness to home sound as if I’m discouraging your travel. We are all wired differently. If you promise to explore your home’s natural places more, I’ll promise to consider traveling. Deal?

With love, light and awe,

Linda

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