Young and Hungry

They settled on a quiet place well out in the country, tucked away in the mountainside. They made sure the land they chose received plenty of rain and a healthy dose of sunshine. About a hundred acres in total, cloaked in trees and webbed with creeks. Spring water flowed in abundance. Vegetation sprouted in groves.

As they drove to the property, the dirt road winded and climbed through the woods into an everlasting tranquility. Time stood still when they were immersed in the landscape. Maybe it was because land is the timekeeper of the past and holds the future.

When they immersed themselves in the land, they saw the bigger picture—they were observers of the natural world order. They came to understand that land had existed long before humans roamed, and it would exist long after they died.

Take away all the nonsense that consumes people today—the pecking orders of society, the need for wealth and power—and let Mother Nature control the rest.

If the world is a cruel place, let it be at the making of her hands. If protection of the youth is a concern, let the concern be raised by the dangers of animals or weather. Mark and Sara sought the need for isolation from the hand of man, not the hand of God, with hopes of a better future for their children to come, a future free of the cruelties they experienced growing up.