Catch a cannon ball now to take me down the line
My bag is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time
To get back to Miss Annie, you know she's the only one
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone
Take a load off, Annie
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Annie
And (and, and) you put the load right on me
(You put the load right on me)
The Band, The Weight
Notes from the trail:
Preparing for the long
dark. Rods of sunlight slanting through the treetops. The leaves
green and gold, lit by divine spark, falling to the ground in slow cursive loops. The
trees black against the sun, solid and vertical filled with the last
of the birds whose song defiant in the face of a setting sun was
beautiful and undying.
We stopped in this
clearing which was unusual. Not the clearing, that was like a
thousand others, pristine and beautiful, it was the stopping that was
unusual. We never stop. We talk for sure, always moving stride by
stride, our words and feet with rhythmic, matching cadence but this
time we stopped. Who made the decision? I believe it was an instinct, just as the creatures know when to start preparing for the long dark by storing food
and making burrows and nests. We took communion there, not with bread
and wine but with words, the song of birds and peace. Annie all in
priestly black, her brown eyes lit by internal fire and intense, Kate in her braids and
banded white vest, her smile dimpling her cheeks. And I, the narrator, my glasses
fogged up, in a shirt stretched and worn and shuffling my feet in the
leaves.
The conversation in
rough draft:
Annie: “ We’ve
stopped!” Annie hates stopping.
Kate: “ I don’t
mind, look at how beautiful it is”
We all look at the
effect of a perfect afternoon on the woods, it is astoundingly
lovely.
Annie: “ I’m just
having a celebrating life moment”
And that is how we
spoke with soft voices on a soft wind, facing each other in the womb
of nature as Annie told us about a friend who is grieving her
husbands death at 48 from Pancreatic cancer. She told us that it could
be any one of us. She went on to say that she was taking this moment, in
the woods, to be appreciative and remember that She needs to make the
most of every day. Kate and I nodded our amens recognising the truth
in what she said.
This
was not a sad run, thanking them both I told
them that my turbulent soul had felt great peace and that I felt
somehow different. in fact it was probably one of the most peaceful
runs I’ve had. My vow to myself is to hold on to this and remember
these conversations and moments because they will sustain me through
winter when these woods become cold and skeletal. I am glad that I
believe the long dark is followed by resurrection life.
Thrown like a star in my vast sleep
I opened my eyes to take a peek
To find that I was by the sea
Gazing with tranquillity
I opened my eyes to take a peek
To find that I was by the sea
Gazing with tranquillity
'Twas then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love
Then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love
Came singing songs of love
Then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love
(Donovan, Hurdy Gurdy Man)
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