Different Views
“We walk the same path, but got on different shoes
Live in the same building, but we got different views…” –Drake

As I begin my journey on the Chessie trail I start with a casual stroll past Jordan’s point and to the first half-mile marker. The first thing that caught my attention was the wooded array of trees and bushes all bunched together. Some of which were miles high above my head signaling in every direction while sprouting from its branches leaves of all sorts of varieties. Many possessed different shapes and sizes; some rounded and dull, and some pointed and sharp. The grass patches encompassing the trees retained some long and tall steams as well as wild weeds with no sense of agricultural structure. Lets not forget about pester of rocks on the ground, leaving the trail uneven and often times difficult to walk and run on. On my jog back, I noticed myself constantly glancing at the ground with every other stride I took with caution.
At last I finish back at Jordan’s point where I found a cozy spot to sit right by the river. I sat and enjoyed my ten minutes of peace and quietness, and that’s exactly what it was. Not a peep from cadets yelling at rats or calling cadence, no officers in site saluting cadets while giving the greeting of the day, nor did I hear parade bells or cannons going off. It was quiet. But after I sat and really listened very closely to my surroundings, it wasn’t quiet at all. I heard the birds chirping and signing back and forth. I heard the wind blowing a slight breeze almost as if it was a soft whistle that rolled off of someone’s lips. I heard the river flowing, even with its ripples and waves tumbling and rolling downstream, the murmur was ever so calming. “It is a river who wields the brush, and it is the same river who, before I can bring my friends to view his work, erases it forever from human view. After that it exists only in my mind’s eye” (Leopold 51). Everything I was seeing seemed so surreal as if it was a painting I was dazing at, like Leopold explained. My view may have been different from my friend who was sitting next to me, whose thoughts and perception of the river may have been the opposite. I continued to watch graciously has the summer suns ripeness rotted. This gave me a new outlook on the Chessie trail. It’s something I’ve grown closer to knowing and understanding the beauty and serenity that comes along with it.