All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today I made a stop at the Catskills in New York. It was very beautiful there and made me take a minute to appreciate my surroundings. The park is full of trails, rivers, and streams as well as mountains. The views from the mountains and trails are truly special and unlike anything I've seen before. The most unique aspect of the park is its natural beauty. It brings a sense of serenity to the surrounding towns and enables people to escape from typical life.  While there, I learned that the first Christmas trees came from the Catskills when a farmer brought evergreens into New York City and sold them. I brought a leaf with me and kept it in my bag so I can have something to always remind me of the natural beauty there is in the world.

Something very interesting happened while I was walking along one of the trails: I saw a black bear! Over 1500 black bears are in the Catskills and I was luck enough to come across one. I’m not sure if you can call it lucky because at the time I wasn't feeling so lucky, but now I appreciate the experience. Seeing that bear is something I never would have been able to experience without travel and a change of scenery. It was very eye opening for me because it made me realize how one can experience such different things depending on one’s surroundings and how they chose to live their life.