calming the soul.

Yesterday morning I woke to that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that screamed "I need more sleep!"  After a night of conversation over German white wines and the future of Facebook, I got only about five hours of sleep.  It was worth it, but it made for a slow-moving, tired morning with lots of coffee.

I spent some time on the front steps with Victoria that morning.  For about ten minutes, we just listened for things.  Trains rumbled by, planes hummed overhead, and cars zoomed past.  In the midst of it, though, I found a peacefulness in the rustling leaves and birds chirping.  It took me, even for just a moment, back to that second fishing dock at Lake Lundgren - one of my favorite places in the whole world.

Everyone needs a place where they feel at peace; a place where their mind is at rest.  Mine have been rare.  The fishing dock at Lake Lundgren, the prayer room at N-dub, and the Chicago Temple have been my only steady (yet infrequent) places.  That morning, however, I found it on the front porch of a home in Bucktown.

Perhaps it isn't the physical location as much as it is the spiritual condition of the soul.  Whatever it is, I loved it, despite it's short lifespan :)