Hidden in Plain Sight
growing roots revealed what was always there
I’ve driven by this house en route to yesterday’s hike with the kids several times, though not since the early fall, and never noticed it.
How is that possible?
It wasn’t just this house, but many other hidden-in-plain-sight spectacles, as well.
Maybe it was the vibrant green and blooming flowers of spring catching my eye everywhere I glanced and somehow failed to glance. No, I don’t think it was just the immense bouquet of colors enrapturing me. Something else.
I used to take the kids down these back roads countless times for one of our favorites hikes in West Greenwich, which starts at the picturesque Stepstone Falls tucked away amongst the numerous Nature Management Areas of western Rhode Island. For them, it’s the perfect hike: waterfalls, bridges, streams, boulders, fish, all undisturbed, isolated, accessible, and endlessly explorable. Even during this last hike, we discovered more than we ever realized existed, aided by their increasing ability to explore deeper and further into the woods.
So why was it this time, while driving down, and even on the hike itself, did I become mesmerized more by the beautifulness of this part of Rhode Island?
I think, more than anything, it’s because I finally decided to let my roots grow deep since the last time I visited. After being indecisive about where I wanted to plant my family tree here in New England for the past few years (was it RI, NH, MA?), but knowing I wanted to return to my families old New England origins after three generations being displaced due to active duty military service, I realized Rhode Island was where I was meant to be, where my family was meant to be. Since then, it’s as if the roots that have grown into the soil here, connecting me to the land all around us, has opened my eyes to the beauty of it all more than I ever could have realized when I was merely a passerby, as so many of us are these days.
The decision to finally stay, finally showed me to the truth.
Yes, of course Rhode Island, both the coastal and rural areas of it are some of the most beautiful around, but the beauty of truly rooting yourself to grow deep is the greatest of all. I appreciate everything around me so much more. I want it to survive, to remain beautiful, to last and live on and be inherited by my people, my neighbors, the good and honest people that have lived here for so long and love this place even more than I ever could. I want my kids to see its wonders and spectacles, and their kids, and theirs, forever on.
It’s like this beautifully simple cedar shingled, saltbox colonial home, tucked back from the road, with large, strange looking animals in front (are those horses, pigs?) finally revealed itself to me after I revealed myself to Rhode Island, and said, “yes, I am here, as are many others like me, see us, embrace us, preserve us, keep us beautiful, and be ready to fight for us if need be. We are here for you, as you are now to us.”
What this all exactly means for me, I do not know, but ones things for sure, I’m going to keep growing my roots down deep, building something really special here in the Ocean State, and making everything I touch here a little more beautiful than it was before.
Thank you for being here with us.
