New Moon…..

A giant gulf separates us….all of us.  The expanse between two souls…eyes and heart on an opposite shore, attempting to close the distance, although walking side by side through this world.  Funny how that walk with one can be a gauntlet, a chapter out of Dante’s Inferno…while the same walk with another…Literay Way.. an autumn stroll…

I watched Belle walk the sidewalk on the first day of school…holding her Mother’s hand.  Although a bit nervous, Belle found comfort….someone close with whom to walk.  I trailed behind…remembering that particularly impossible gulf was never closed…I had to laugh, recalling that I left that walk alongiside a stream in Blackfoot territory somewhere in Montana.  Baker was only interested in trying to get to class without hand-holding, a picture taken, or unnecessary embarrassment from his parents… he escaped into the 5th grade this week, never to be photographed willingly again.

Meanwhile, how do I describe my present stroll… Looking ahead…touching the rocks and trees as I pass…wading directly into the running streams without attempting to bound from rock to rock…welcoming the return of the new moon…. and another season. School has begun….  I’ve spent the summer months staring across a hazy gulf towards a contiguous mountain.  I’ve turned the soil in this heat… looked back at my attempt of straight rows and fresh prints of my boots in the dark earth… the new moon is coming… a reminder of the harvest.

Storing Treasures…

The kids were lying on top of their sleeping bags in our small dome tent.  The day had consumed us.  I watched them until they fell asleep and the world turned incredibly quiet.  Slipping from the tent, sharing this night with a timid fire, I eased into the cool water.  The sky was still a deep, dark blue and I could make out subtle reflections of well-placed stars on the water.  Chin deep…cold water… water boiling over the fire for a hot cup of coffee…Fruit bats swarmed overhead…the song of the cicadas and running water blended until he noise became a well orchestrated production…

Our packs were heavy and swelled with the intense heat the moment we began walking.  Occasionally dropping our packs and wading into the creek to cool our bodies, I noticed the kids and how the water rejuvenated them.  A few miles up, however, we anticipated the temperature to drop into the upper 60s as darkness fell.

A rock shelf jutted out over the creek and we skirted the edge, between two worlds…steep mountainside of thick vine, brambles, and balsam…and deep, clear running water… Baker and Belle scrambled over boulders through a series of crossings… knee-deep… keeping packs up over the water.  Watching…what will become part of them….what gets carried from here tomorrow.  I hope to leave some things behind…to be consumed by the voracious embers.

But I know full well that I will carry so much more from here tomorrow as I can already see them leaping from the rocks and playing on the rope swing.  I know that I will be the last one to leave tomorrow as I gather our memories. .. each and every smile…each word spoken…the sounds of their child-like laughter.  My backpack will be heavy with a story that I will carry forever… one of my children growing…of embracing indifference….finding a new foothold between a steep embankment and swift water…sitting around a small campfire with those we love…finding peace…happiness..contentment…

I opened my eyes…the most beautiful things here, despite the inescapable beauty of this place…these two souls nestled in sleeping bags, under this rock shelf…the perfect craftsmanship of God’s imagination and giving character… I was reminded… a gentle voice…my children are perfect, just like these surroundings…devoid of man’s interference and will… this place…my steps…still very much in His hands.

Barefoot…and crazy…

Cool water from somewhere up in the gorge dripped off her little face as she stood on the boulder… staring down at the creek below.. determined… The dog days of summer loomed…a discordant reminder that our weekends of relaxing at the Blue Hole were coming to an end…the return of school next week.  So, after many weeks of wading into the clear water… Belle jumped.

Barefoot… without schedules…expected  nowhere… All will quickly become a memory as the leaves begin to turn and the humidity dissipates… Our routine will change… Tevas and swimming hole… boots and campfires.. It’s been said that the only thing for certain is uncertainty…but what waits just beyond tomorrow… Belle… little soul…the distance between the top of the boulder and the water passed in seconds… and suddenly… like crawling through the dark tunnels in the gorge…or paddling the kayak alone.. dancing at the Mountain Opry.. for without fear, there is no courage… She jumped.

The world belongs to you, Neshume-Le.