Adventures In Avalon

It has been two months since my wife’s AVM and brain surgery. In those eight weeks, I’ve been as big a part of her healing process as I could be over the phone (due to COVID restrictions). In addition, I have been keeping my son’s remote schoolwork going and trying to figure the best way to keep him happy and healthy and explain to my sweet special needs child why his mommy is not home with us. All this during a global pandemic and while I also try to find a job (having been laid off due to COVID-related reasons at the end of August).

I have not slept a full night through in all this time. And the thought of doing anything for myself has made me feel so guilty.

This past Sunday, my mother-in-law insisted I take some time for myself. I couldn’t think of what to do at first, but I knew I wanted to get outside and embrace my passion for photography. I searched the Web for good places to take photos near me, but then I remembered a place that I had wanted to explore for a while.

I went to Avalon. Avalon Nature Preserve in Stony Brook, NY, that is. I had taken my son to the pond there to see the ducks a couple years ago, but never had checked out the rest of the place. There are miles of trails and a really cool grist mill that adds to the amazing atmosphere.

I got to thinking that it was kind of fitting to go to Avalon. The Avalon of King Arthur legend was a place of healing and symbolized purity, abundance, and magic. All things that I needed and all things I discovered there.
It was a cold day, but the sunshine was plenty and the air felt good to breathe in and feel on my skin. Avalon Nature Preserve is abundantly beautiful from the swans swimming on the pond to the setting sun shining through the tall trees.

I returned to my car, after walking the trails, feeling cold and tired, but also warmhearted and energized. It was exactly what I needed and I think I found one of my new favorite places to visit, photograph, and just be.