Melissa Modolo "Sugarloaf Mountain"

I live semi-near Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland and I routinely like to hike it with my friends or family. I had a realization at the top one time that gave me an entirely new perspective of the place. From the end of my street on a cold winter morning when the air is extremely clear, you can see the mountain rising up across the farm fields. If it's clear enough, you can even see the white rocks at the top which we sit on to enjoy the view. As you cross the river into Maryland, these rocks become even more prominent. While I sat at the top with my friend Marty one time, we began to discuss this fact. Hundreds of years ago when only the Native Americans dwelt in the land, these same rocks would have still been visible. Because of this and because human nature leads people to climb to these places for spiritual experiences, it seems plausible to assume that Native Americans sat on those same rocks and looked into the same valley that we also look into. This was such an amazing experience for me to realize that we all seek the same things for the same reasons. I'm sure my experience sitting on the warm rocks with the sun shining on my face and the cool breeze whipping up out of the valley was very much similar to the ones that people have been experiencing on these rocks for hundreds or thousands of years. People crave these places and the places themselves continue to feed us the same spiritual food that they always have.