As generations of Hearings and their wed-welcomed family smile silently from portraits pinned to the wall
Here is a warm haven on cold nights on the cusp of winter
Where wood fires cook hearty meals and hearts glow along with the bronze buck
Walk the hill as the creek tumbles through old, second, and third growth
Boulders and brush and on to where it jumped the bed before the lake and tore a new path
Nature does what it will until machines carve deeper journeys into the scarred earth
Stand at the lake’s edge where the air tastes like the cool depths
Fish fail to fly but break the surface enough to grab their next meal and swim on
The reflection of the ledge beyond reveals the sinking sun and the chill settles in
Into each crevice and branch, into your bones and breath
Head back inside to the silent smiles
The wood fired feast
The bronze buck
With your heart full of nature-love and Hearing hospitality
NATURE IS NEVER SPENT 