"I don't wanna go for a walk."
"C'mon. It's not a hard walk...the grade isn't too steep. It'll be an easy path."
"OK. I don't really want to, but I'll come."
So we walked. Up the hill. Over to the side of the hill. Up a little higher. It was, just as Byron said, an easy walk. As we moved northward I could see a huge valley between the two hills. Then I heard the creek down at the bottom of the valley. As small as it is, it sounded refreshing and inviting. I had never been this far down the creek before and I wanted to see it. I told Byron I was going down to the creek.
"It's a long way down there and pretty steep to climb back up."
"I know. But it's clear walking and I have lots of little hangy-on trees to help me come back up."
"You're gonna think "little hangy-on trees" when you start back up that hill."
"I'll be back!"
I worked my way down the steep hill. There was about a foot or so of leaf litter all over the ground and I had my Keds on--which aren't known for their gripping ability--so it was an adventure all the way down. Finally, I reached the bottom and it was beautiful. The creek is only about 6 ft across at the widest point and there were a couple of little falls that were very pretty. It's nothing spectacular, just a little creek in the middle of nowhere, but the music of the rushing water coupled with the sunshiney day and the cool breeze between the two high hills made it amazing.
I walked along the creek for a little bit and looked around enjoying the solitude. I felt safe because I knew at the top of the hill was my husband listening out for me if I should need help and I also felt fairly safe because despite being in the woods down a steep hill in a part of the woods I've never been before, I knew the way home. Home was just over the hill. It might take a little bit to get there, but I wasn't at all lost.
After a little while, I decided to make my return up the hill. It sure looked higher going up than I thought it would but I started up, and sure enough, I used the "hangy-on" trees occasionally as I walked. I had just about reached the top and Byron was only feet from me. As I stepped toward a clump of trees, I grabbed onto a skinny trunk. Just then, my right leg slid clean as a whistle, completely and totally into a hole! My right leg disappeared into the ground up to my thigh. There was nothing around my leg and my shoe wasn't touching anything inside the hole!
I didn't feel hurt so I didn't panick, but I yelled to Byron, "My leg's in a hole!"
That's when my protector-husband calmly yelled back, "Well, pull it out!"
Byron is an experienced woodsman so I figured if he wasn't alarmed, then I wouldn't be alarmed either. I pulled it out.
I checked myself out. My pants leg was a little dirty. My shoe was still on my foot. No ant bites. No bees nest in the hole. No water. No bugs. No worms. No scrapes. No bumps. No bruises. No nothing. I pulled myself up and walked up the rest of the way to Byron.
"There was NOTHING in the hole! Nothing! My foot touched nothing at all!"
"When trees die and rot out, they leave holes in the ground." Such a matter of fact kinda guy!
I was relieved that I hadn't been hurt and that I wasn't alone out there when it had happened. Byron and I laughed about it all the way back to the house--and every time I think about my adventure today, I laugh--mostly, because I'm relieved and so very grateful that I wasn't hurt in some freak mountain-woods accident. What if I'd broken my leg? Or, what if that hole had been big enough for BOTH my legs? I might have discovered another Ruby Falls--or disappeared into an abyss, forever gone. Can't you just see Byron trying to explain my disappearance to the police? HA!
When we've imagined all the possibilities of what might have happened, the "what-ifs" don't really matter. Although I will probably remember this day as the day my leg fell into the mountain hole, I will also remember the rushing water and solitude of the creek as that icy water ran freely over the little falls to who knows where. Most of all, when life is hard and I struggle with people, circumstances, finances, emotions and situations, I will remember that I am still never alone and home is just over the hill.
Suz
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