Well, it was that time
again. Only a couple days left before she was to return north and back to
regular life. (Regular, indeed….)
That familiar feeling of subtle anticipation/dread mixed with a bit of
excitement/sadness. It’s the reason she doesn’t like traveling, from the
compulsion to pack perfectly to the nagging feeling that she’s ending something
and leaving people she loves. It goes both ways, since she considers both
places to be her homes. You’d think as she got older the excursions through the
looking glass would have gotten easier, but since she is still inherently her (full of desperation and good
intentions) it seems she’s just realizing more and more how lost she is.
And what better time to
hike through an unfamiliar mountain’s woods than when you already feel lost?
She and her sister grabbed
water bottles and a quick breakfast and drove to a privately owned mountain that
is open for free use to the public—Sugarloaf.
Even though neither one of
them had been hiking recently, they climbed on and kept a steady pace through
the rocky inclining and declining path. All was quiet but for the crunching of
the sand beneath their sneakers.
She tried practicing light footwork and jumped
from rock to rock whenever the opportunity arose, which was more often than
not. It was a cool and shaded morning under the canopy, and there hadn’t been a
good rain for a few days, so the conditions were about as close to perfect as
she could imagine. And beside the profusion of spiders scurrying about (blasted
rock spiders… go back to Death Mountain…) there was little wildlife about with
only a couple squirrels rustling in the distance and a few birds calling
overhead.
She welcomed the joint solitude of her sister, both not speaking
while they hiked and lost in their own musings. She was winded, yet still
hungry to continue onwards. It was invigorating seeing the raw beauty of God
and continuing through it.
She figured it out after
coming back that they had hiked 4 miles in about the 2 hours they had trekked
out there (from b10 to b4 and back). They were quite satisfied with themselves.
And then many afternoon naps ensued~
1 comments:
Good call, going on a forest hike to clear your mind. There's a Sugarloaf in Cedar next to where my grandparents live, but it's no mountain > <
Just a "little" hill fit for skiers.
That must have been a fun adventure to close your summer trip with c:
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