from: High Park Nature www.highparknature.org. High Park is a Sacred Place By Dagmar Baur There is an old Celtic saying that heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in "thin places" that distance is even smaller; the centuries drop away and raise the veil separating us from ancient splendour. A thin place requires us to step from one world to another. It is no wonder that thin places are most often associated with wild landscapes. High Park has many thin places where there is beauty below us, beauty above us and beauty all around. Young Sassafras Karen Yukich We sense the sacred in a blue heron taking flight from Grenadier Pond; we find it in the fragrance of the Sweet Fern and the Sassafras Grove below West Road; it's in the knowledge of a million year old glacial river coursing beneath us or in the fragile beauty of a Blue Hare-bell and Upright White Morning Glory at the feet of ancient Oaks that lift our eyes to the sky. Being in High Park is a way of coming home to ourselves. Editor's note: Dagmar contributed this personal reflection a year before her untimely death in April 2010. She was a long-time volunteer and an inspiration for many of us involved in the restoration effort. http://www.highparknature.org/wiki/wiki.php?n=PersonalReflections.FrontPage