May 14th, 2021
The little creek flowed quietly this morning along our morning path… The sun sparkled on the rippling currents - life moving on.
This time, last year, we had just discovered the bamboo grove situated just to my left - a densely dark forest where I am terrified to go. Someone already passed through here this morning - their footsteps matting down the skunk weed on their way down to the creekside.
Skunk weed always makes me chuckle as I fondly remember a dear friend and me hauling it out of the woods by her house a thousand years ago - when we were young and brave -- and stupid. We thought it looked beautiful - mistaking it for free hostas placed there by whom? Little fairies?
We were promptly enlightened by one of our husbands as to how we had just spent our morning hauling an invasive species out of the woods AND how we needed to take it back. Oh, if only we had been smarter back then! We laughed till we cried - so grateful for our few hours of freedom while the kiddos went to preschool.
And the skunk weed memory is always immediately followed by the vulnerable snapping turtle escapade that took place a few months later. One day, for reasons still unknown, this same friend and I came across an incredibly over-sized snapping turtle trying to move from one end of town to the other. It literally scared us to death after we nearly flattened it as we sped past. We felt so badly for the poor little love, we turned around, scooped him (or her) up into the only safety net we could find - an empty baby wipes container. We howled with laughter, thinking ourselves heroes to behold --- when, lo and behold - that little bugger started banging on the lid to escape.
I screamed and shot out of the moon roof of the van - terrified not only of the snapping turtle - but at the breakneck speed by which my friend and I were headed straight through town! That woman whipped our minivan into the parking lot of a local park and chucked that baby wipe container as hard as she could!
And then we just stared at one another - in horror! The heroes had just undone all their good deeds. Eventually, we recovered and laughed at another round of our stupidity. But by that time, preschool was soon over - time to pack up that adventure.
So this bamboo grove in the forest that I pass every morning, and the nearby skunk weed - always does me in… Reminds me of friendship, laughter, memories. But I still try to give it a wide berth as I head down to the water’s edge.
Over the years, God has given me dear and close friends. Friends who have walked by my side through dark deep lows, others who have sat on mountaintop highs, and a handful who have waded in skunk weed, sped through seasons of change, and chuckled by my side in the mundane. I am blessed...
We tried for a family outing day - complete with ice cream, cows, farms, and pizza. But we couldn’t find our groove today… we just couldn’t find our rhythm. I wondered what it might take to set the world properly back on its axis… Apparently nothing magical - just time and grace. Just remembering how to sit side by side one another in a van, weapons down.... Slowing down.
The dairy cows helped brighten the scene. And when we returned home I saw we had guests… Duck eggs sitting in the incubator drummed up from the basement abyss. We don’t have ducks. Apparently, Andrei brought them home last night from a friend’s house. So now the kitchen is not only where we cook… It is a place to observe.
But the world is properly back on its axis.
