There are few places I can say invoked peaceful feelings in me. It isn’t that I can’t find these places, but more that there is a certain connection in finding peace between you and a place. From what I’ve noticed, relaxing in a nice place, or reading a book by a river, for example, isn’t true peace. I take true peace as a disconnection from the conflict and constant flow of life and leaving them behind. If I can find a place, and truly forget about conflicts back in my day-to-day life, I think I’ve found peace for a while.Of course, making that next step is difficult, because it takes self-initiative. It's also up to personal character of what kind of places you like. For me, this place is Lake Berryessa. Its located in Napa County, California, which is about an hour and a half away from where I used to live. Its known for the “Morning Glory Spillway”; a drainage system that appears like a black-hole, in water. The spillway is right next to the Monticello Dam, which was built in 1957.
About twice a year my family would go to Lake Berryessa to hike one of the toughest trails along the mountain and its ridge. Its provided me with some pretty but also frightening memories. For example, when you take the long route for the hike we’ve done, there's a point where you have to lean against the mountain with a path, overlooking a steep fall. Hiking would usually take the whole day, with several milestones that I remember to this day. One was an abandoned stone house, in a clearing full of autumn leaves and right next to a blue flowing river. Not one patch of dirt could be seen on the floor, because of the coat of leaves everywhere. We tended to stay here and rest.
I think of this lake as my most peaceful place because of one particular experience. One weekend, my dad, my brothers, and I stayed there overnight. My dad had a friend who owned a research post in the mountain, and we got to camp out in the usually restricted area. We even got his Gator (or small all-terrain car). It's hard to come up with memories that made me feel the same way I did then. We spent the day hiking in new areas, and I would sit in the back of the Gator while my dad drove us over and up mountain ridges. The wind blew all around me, and at points it felt like I was touching the sky. Ultimately, every minute was fun or awe-inspiring, which led to an incredible immersion that disconnected me from my regular life for a while. Therefore, I find this a peaceful place.
