poem and photos: jessica davenport

Meandering to 52

When I was in my twenties
I went to China
Now I go to China Camp State Park

I used to climb peaks and hike to waterfalls
Now I meander along creeks and valleys
Looking at mushrooms and listening to the knocking of the woodpecker

I delight at flocks of bushtits
Little birds that flitter through the air
Landing on shrubs to pick off tiny insects
I know are there but can’t see

I learn to tell the difference
Between a buffledhead and a goldeneye
Black and white ducks that speckle the bay
On a cold bright afternoon

Sometimes the best part of a winter hike
Is sitting in the sun to eat lunch
And connecting to the earth underneath

I go slower but deeper
There is always more to explore

---

about the writer: jessica davenport

Jessica Davenport works for the California Coastal Conservancy (scc.ca.gov), supporting projects in the San Francisco Bay Area that restore habitats, create shoreline parks and trails, and protect communities from flooding. In her spare time, she enjoys observing nature in Bay Area parks, taking and sharing photographs (@jessicadavenger on Instagram), and doing improv with her husband Michael Davenport’s theater company, Morpho Theater (morphotheater.com), in Oakland and worldwide on Zoom.

instagram @jessicadavenger