Secret spots

I've always had a secret spot. Call it ju ju, feng shui, a safe feeling, pretty, or inspiring. I don't know exactly how I've chosen these spots but I've absolutely known them when I found them. They feel right.

My first secret spot, my parents tell me, I named my "secret ware." It was a spot in between my neighbors house and ours, under a tree and near a large silver boulder that poked out of the ground about a foot. I'd just go there and sit. My parents would come looking for me there often.

We moved several times during my childhood and I'm not sure if I actively went out looking for a secret spot at each new dwelling or if I just happened to come upon it. In Connecticut, it was in the branch of the maple tree in our front yard. In Chicago, it was by a little fence that overlooked a small pond

up the road. Now, it is my left chair in our living room that looks out across our front yard. On sunny days, the rays stream in through the window and I feel calm, loved and safe.

Maybe these secret spots are where I feel close to God. I don't know, but I am grateful that I have always been able to find them.