magical enchanting nature adventure time.

Nature holds a very special place in my heart. Most of my favorite memories usually involve enjoying my local park during the summer, camping in the great outdoors, and just plain old beautiful natural scenery. Even when I travel now, my vacations are not complete without some sort of natural experience.

I recall a special place that my friends and I would always go to in our town park, to... commune with nature if you will. We called it Mordor. You see, there were these massive overturned trees all in a line, such that they formed a wall. To pass this wall, you had to pass through this tiny path in between the torn up roots of these overturned trees, and this we called the Black Gate. Forgive the geekiness, but once you passed through the Black Gate into Mordor, the whole place just took on a magical quality...

Over the course of our years making mischief in the local park, we developed our own nomenclature for this natural world. It took on a mythical quality, with the relevant stories for each place, each landmark, and we developed a magical bond with our surroundings. The natural world around us was as alive as we were, and eventually became as much a part of our "good 'ol days" stories as us too. It was a second home for us, and it still retains a fond place in our nostalgic musings. We of course take the opportunity to return from time to time still and enjoy the place that in many ways has remained the same and yet still different and magical each time. I cannot fondly think of home without also thinking of this place and the memories, stories, and bonds it helped us create. I can't help but think that if more people developed the type of bonds with their natural surroundings I and my friends developed, their respect for it would make it easier to attempt the of society wide changes necessary to preserve these places.