Following My Own Path

Following My Own Path

When I was five we moved into a new house.  In was in a neighborhood not with sidewalks, but in more of a town/country setting.  We lived along a curvy road with houses on both sides spaced adequately apart with ample wooded areas running the whole length of the backside of the houses.  This was in the 60;s when children lived outdoors from daybreak to sunset.  So, there was a virtual paradise just a little beyond my backyard.

I spent most of my time from age five until sometime upon reaching puberty exploring these back woods.  At first I was under the care of older neighbor kids.  We were quite good at constructing tepees all out of natural materials we found in the woods.  I was always an Indian when roles were assigned which was actually my preference. 

As I grew older I spent more time in the woods by myself.  The other kids actually tired of it.  But I found some natural affinity with nature.  I loved the rocks, the creeks, especially a good well-worn path.  I think it was all reminding me of a simpler past life.  I often felt connected to God when lying in the grass amid the trees looking up at the sky with the sound of the wind and flowing creek water.

Then I moved indoors.  I turned from a tree hugger into a sun worshipper, spending far too many hours with the radio blaring beside me, waiting for the jingle, “time to turn so you won’t burn.”  Then the responsibilities of life drifted in.  I was far too busy with a family and career to see much of the natural light of day. 

As mid life set in thoughts turned to a yearning and restlessness for something different.  One day to appease this hole in my soul I turned to my husband and said I would just like to do something very different.  “I would like to go hiking.”  It was October and we went to the Smokey Mountains.  This was also a last ditch effort to save a failing marriage.  The marriage ended, but a new hiking career for me began. 

Now all this time we had lived on a farm surrounded by woods.  I had barely set foot in them.  The now former husband once commented that I barely knew anything about my own back yard, let alone the surrounding woods.  This was too true I have to admit.

After the divorce I began doing all the yard work.  I found I truly loved mowing the lawn.  Horticulture is still a struggle for me, but I’m learning.  Then three years later I met the man who was to be my second husband.  Our first date was my next hiking trip.  After almost six years we are still hiking - he quite a bit on the weekends, me almost every day.  We are now seriously using the woods around our house making winding hiking trails, rustic steps on the steepest hills, bridges across creeks, and meditation areas.