Being childless until tomorrow afternoon (the Sprouts are with the Grandparents up in Itasca), I thought that I should do something special to celebrate the occasion. The house was empty and quiet, and work had gone well. I wasn't too terribly tired, so I hopped in the car and desperately tried to think of something to do.
The first stop was a craft store. I have been feeling a crafting blitz coming on since finishing Woodland Enchantress, and thought that maybe I could get me some inspiration. I got nothin'. So I thought a bookstore would do the trick. Nope. Then I got the bright idea to just drive around until I figured out what to do. I didn't wanna go home, because it seemed like a waste of a childless day to spend it bent over needlework or cleaning house. But there was just nothing that really called out to me as the thing that I should be doing with my time.
Then, just by chance, I began driving past Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. It all clicked. I wanted to be out in the woods, breathing fresh air and listening to the silence. So I pulled into the Blue Hill Trail entrance, and began walking. It is less than a mile to the scenic overlook at the top of the hill, and there I paused for a while. It is so beautiful! It seemed I could see forever, and I imagined how it would have looked to the first settlers. The sky was that perfect shade of endless blue with cartoon-perfect fluffy little clouds dancing their way to the horizon. I was soothed.
My Dad used to take me out there when I was a kid, but I had forgotten how nice it was to be all alone out there. After a bit I started to walk again, but the sad fact that I was completely unprepared for any kind of walk soon became painfully obvious. I had no bug spray, and the little creepy-crawlies were determined to crawl up my nose.
I am just enough of a girly-girl to not like bugs in my nose. So after a little over a mile I turned back. It wasn't a long walk, either in distance or time, but it served it's purpose. That need I was feeling had been satisfied, and memories that needed remembering were.
It was good, and I will be going back.
2 comments:
I'm a person who craves silence. It's been so long since my kids were small and endlessly needy and noisy. I remember the days when I needed to be alone and wrapped in silence so badly.
I completely understand how the silence can feed your soul.
I hope you can take time to find it again. Memories count too!
Mmmmmmmmmm.....I can feel the stress going out of me too as I read your post Barefoot. Time spent with our Benevolent Mother Nature is never wasted!
(here's a tip: keep some of those insect repellant wipes in your car for the next time you have a chance for a random visit to the NWR. They don't take up much space, plus you don't have the worry of a can of repellant exploding in a too-hot car)
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