one path in our woods
I need to take a walk in the woods and see a box turtle blending artfully with fallen leaves. Or, looking off the trail, spot a lion’s mane fruiting on a dying oak. If it is early morning, the deer will stand still, unnoticed until unnerved by my nearness, then explode into action, bounding in long strides and leaping the barbed wire fence in the middle of the woods, at the base of the long ridge bordering the farm’s eastern edge.
My steps will retrace the tread of my own Camino, one that curves not across Spain but through the 20-acre wood to the back pastures. It will be peacefully quiet, my steps unnoticed in the damp leaves. Little flurries in a hickory, off to my left, will reveal the presence of a squirrel, scampering muted by distance. It will pause as it detects my passing and call with a series of barks to all other of its kin within hearing. If I were there.
There, not here, where I’m staring out a window at two cars, two trucks, two tractors, facing a never-ending to-do list of late fall tasks.
Here, where all the conversations about ballot counts, when this or that investigation might be concluded, stock market fluctuations, Netflix releases, the demise of brick and mortar retail, wheel taxes, state taxes, food taxes, special status, unspecial status, working classes, elites, middle classes, football, basketball, baseball, iPhone updates (now and again this evening), new laptop, new, new, new, more, more, more … seem inadequate and a grotesque sideshow to what this world has on offer.
If I could just crumple the to-do list for the day, put off butchering the ducks for customers, not thin the turnip greens in the hoop-house, not move the pigs to the woods, would I use the time well?
I need to take a walk to the top of the hill at midnight, smell the approaching winter, smile at the distant lights of a neighbor’s farm, hear the sounds of our farm as the coyote passing through the fenceline hears them; to crunch the frost underfoot, see the achingly clear sky and stars overhead; to clear the mind, open the heart and the soul to the majestic, reject the mundane of our meager achievements.
I need to take a walk.
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Reading this weekend: Highway of the Sun (Von Hagen): an account of an expedition to trace the Incan highways.
Indeed! I have taken a break from the news and it feels like my batteries are recharging. Last week a group of Tibetan monks visited our community and I enjoyed an entire week filled with visits watching them create a sand mandala, chanting…spiritual enrichment. I lived an entire week free from news! Yes, I voted, but it took me 10 minutes, not at all a stressful event.
Life can be so much richer when it is just about the simple daily tasks that need doing. I walk the dogs and enjoying the woods, the smell of wood smoke that drifts from various chimneys, the rustle of leaves in the wind. I have stopped worrying about who was elected or what they will do. I no longer care about the latest crazy tweet from trump or even whether and how our weather is changing. We had such a short fall season this year. We went from 80 degree heat to freezing temperatures in the blink of the eye. Who knows how our climate will change next year.
Mornings now find me sitting by the fireplace enjoying the peace and quiet of slower days. Next week is Thanksgiving, when I volunteer to run the kitchen for our community Thanksgiving where we will serve 600 people! Our church art fair follows the next weekend and I will bake cookies and make 8 gallons of chili for the cafe. Christmas decorating follows. We told the boys that this year we are buying fewer presents. Lots of food. Lots of love. Less consumerism. It feels like time flies by ever more quickly. I sometimes think the only freedom in life we have is our awareness of what is right before us. Nothing else really matters as much.
Now, that is what I’m talking about, Jody!
I enjoyed this immensely … think of you often …. wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Angela
Glad you liked, Angela. Hope your North Georgia Thanksgiving is a great one.
Hmmm, this one wonders whether you might smell the approaching winter, or the receding fall. Either way, it’s a fine sentiment. But in my woods the scent of fall seems stronger.
Turkey day in Knoxville. Hope the holiday is wonderful for you and yours. All the best!
Your sense of smell is more highly evolved than mine. Enjoy the time in Knox-vegas.