After determining how to get from our campsite to the trailhead, we were eager to enter the designated Wilderness of this Wisconsin forest.  It had been logged more than 30 years ago and then left to return to a more natural state.  The trail was an old logging road that had not been maintained, and could barely be recognized under the summer foliage.  I felt the quiet buzz of insects around me like a choir of innocents in a holy sanctuary, the sun streaming through the new leaves as if through the stained glass of an ancient cathedral.  The forest was teeming with life while calmly silent at the same time.  I dared not speak, wanting to be absorbed into the pulsing breath of the place itself.  

Every detail seemed to be as exquisite in artistry as a religious icon. I wanted to take it all in and cherish it for eternity. 

My camera became the instrument of praise and prayer that day, and I vowed to devote myself to Wilderness protection so that humans would always have a place to experience humility. 

State of Mind