Monday, April 28, 2008

Fun Monday: Walking down Yellow Brick Road...

AOJ/The Lurchers is hosting this week! She wanted to hear about our favorite walk!

Here's the deal, my most favorite place to walk (so far) is 'back home' and I couldn't get there to take pictures. Oftentimes, I have found that walking, especially if you're walking in the woods can't be properly explained without BEING THERE. It's a total feeling and not just a sight. With
that in mind, I'll try and remember all my walks as a kid and explain them with words.

I love walking in the woods, no matter what time of year. In the winter, it's crispy and you can see your breath, you might sink in the snow or the mud, and it's just peaceful, no bugs to worry with, no snakes to try and avoid, just clear air and time to think.

The summer would be when I do the LEAST walking. The woods are full of critters going about their own business, and I wouldn't want them minding mine, so I don't mind theirs. In the summer, I'm more likely to be busy helping with gardening, the animals, or just sitting on the porch drinking tea or lemonade and saying how hot it is. Although I might escape down to the creek to see if I can find crawdads or scare up a frog in the cool mud, summer is a time best left alone.

Spring, oh sometimes I think that spring is my most favorite time to walk, but it isn't. Springtime walking has a PURPOSE. Starting way too early and going way too late, spring time walking would be all about MORELS. Skiff the garden and see if there's any asparagus poking through the ground, stuff the bag deeper in your pocket so as not to scare the mushrooms away with the rattling and HUNT! The fun thing was that you never knew where you would find mushrooms. There was never a definite spot per se, just as you can't guarantee where wildflowers will grow, you can't say where a mushroom spore will land and spring up overnight. There were a lot of years I searched for weeks after school, and then I'd go again with mom or both my parents after dinner, them hunting, me knowing there was nothing out there, but this time enjoying the walk for the bonding time. Teasing that our dog was like those pigs in France, smelling out truffles. Did nothing of the sort, of course, but it gave us something to laugh at.

Fall, yes, I think that autumn was the best time of all. You weren't rushed due to bugs, cold, or impending storms. There was nothing to search for and deep breaths would get your lungs full of intricate smells of life's journey passing by one more time. My FAVORITE place to walk was on the neighbor's property (of course) on a path called yellow brick road. Like out of the storybook. It was called that because in the fall the leaves would all turn yellow, orange, gold and brown, and as they were so tall and close together that the leaves would all fall directly onto the path and leave a golden trail to follow. There were years when the culvert washed out and you could only go so far and then you'd see the creek below where the big metal culvert should have been, it all bent up and straggling down the creek bed from a hard summer's storm. The next year it would be back again, dirt piled up on top of it, even with the road, so you could trudge on across and peer at the wonderment of the season, of life's never ending cycle, you really understood the gravity of our time here on earth in that walk. Seasons change, people, like the trees, would eventually go away, and the earth would renew itself.

I learned a lot about life on those walks. I still like to take them when I can, remember what it was like to live for the moment and not worry about the grander plan. Like in the stories, we never really got anywhere on those walks, but we did a lot of traveling and understanding in our own minds.

17 comments:

Greyhound Gap Official News Blogger said...

There is nothing quite like thinking back to the walks and days we took years ago.

Thank you for such vivid recollection

Pamela said...

I could see it, feel it, and smell it. Yes!!!

(You left out the birds. haha ha)

Jo Beaufoix said...

That was so beautiful. And I'd be with you on leasving the snakes to themselves in the summer time. Amazing descriptions though. My Fun Monday is up but you may need to scan down for it if you get chance to drop by. Have a fab week. :D

ChrisB said...

You describe your walks so vividly it was easy to conjure up a picture. I was brought up in the country and we walked in all seasons so you have brought back memories for me :)

Anonymous said...

you captured these walks in the different seasons very well with your words. Sounds like a great store of memories...
enjoy your week...

Anonymous said...

Sounds heavenly...especially in the fall. I can just picture the golden trail.

kitten said...

Very beautiful write! Enjoyed every step.

Patience-please said...

I felt like I was right there with you. Delightful!

Jan said...

Wonderful post. Thanks for sharing.

Jientje said...

I wish I could write like you, you don't even need a picture, and yet, I was right there beside you, I could almost smell the earth as we were looking for morels! Thanks, that was great!

j said...

I can picture the path with the fallen yellow leaves. Your descriptions were lovely.

I avoid woodsy walks in the summer too. We have Rattle Snakes in our area and I don't want to come up on one of those.

Jennifer

Karina said...

You needed no pictures to give us a complete visual of your walks. I felt like I was there. Very nicely done!

Anonymous said...

A great description of you walks. We used to go out as a family on the farm too. Well, I guess we still do but we are older now. We had Morels growing here last year. Previous years it has been too dry. Maybe we will get some this year again.

IamwhoIam said...

Yes Yes Yes I must agree there is nothing better than a walk in the woods, winter, sping, summer, or fall they all have something to offer. The big woods how lovely the thought is, thank you

Celeste said...

The yellow brick road sounds enchanting. What a wonderful walk.

Mariposa said...

I heard you here...my best walk has something to do with how it makes me feel...and sometimes words/ photos cannot give justice to it.

Have a nice week!

Faye said...

What an evocative walk through the seasons. It reminded me that each time of the year does have its unique pleasures. Your writing is so descriptive in a very controlled way--a pleasure to read.