I like to go walking at a nature trail close to the house. I have written about it before. It is a beautiful trail that winds in and around a forest type environment. There are all kinds of flora and fauna. The flora actually comes right up to the asphalt trail and consists of many kinds of vegetation mixed with all kinds of wildflowers and flowering plants.
The bird life there is phenomenal. The number of cardinals that live there might be in the hundreds. There have been times during my walks that I have seen trees ablaze with the red feathered creatures. Today I saw one that must have been a young male. He still had some of his brownish/grayish feathers on his wings and underbelly. He had skittered from a tree that I was passing and flew to another tree a few feet away, landing on a branch about three feet off the ground. He was only about four feet in from the trail, and he watched me watching him as I passed by. What an amazing experience.
The trees at this location are various in type and size. There are trees that are in excess of 50 feet high. At one point I was approaching the part of the trail where some of the trees were especially high. I wish I knew more about trees so I could tell you what kind they were. All I can do for now is tell you that it was a tree, and that it was very tall.
I began to notice a sound, like a large waterfall. Now, there is a creek next to the trail that runs for a few hundred feet and I thought, at first, that the overflow that fed the creek was being assaulted by a rush of floodwater- there were a few storms in the area. This got my attention.
I saw the top of the tallest tree moving and I stopped and watched it for a moment. I must have looked like Tom Cruise's character in "The War of the Worlds," staring up like I was- I certainly felt that way. It was swirling around like hundreds of gorillas were jumping from branch to branch. The scary part was there were no other trees moving. Then all the trees were.
All at once there came a wall of cold air. The sun drenched asphalt I was standing on was hot from the sun, a stark contrast to the chilled wave splashing over me. I studied the movements of the trees to make sure I wasn't witnessing the birth of a tornado. It turned out to be just some turbulent winds, or maybe it was a storm trying to grow. Nothing came of it and I finished my walk.
A moment or two after I resumed my walk I had a thought- I'm glad that air is invisible.
My mind began an experiment of imagining what I had just witnessed as if it were streams and channels and eddies of visible, substantive, ectoplasmic material striking and bending the branches.
In a flash I was the central character in a dramatization of the famed Edvard Munch painting "The Scream." Of course, I was surrounded by lush vegetation and trees, and shared the trail with half a dozen striped lizards and several birds of various kinds all flitting about as if nothing were wrong.
But, just like coming around the last turn on a roller coaster, the one just before the queue line full of eager soon-to-be riders, it was over. A blackbird flew by and landed on a tree much like the young cardinal mentioned previously. I was kind of hoping he would look over at me and say "Nevermore," but he didn't. There was no "bust of Pallas," no "chamber door,"and it really wasn't a raven, anyway. My thanks to Edgar Allen Poe, just the same, for his poem "The Raven," from which these words were quoted.
I fired up my Nissan Sentra and rolled home. At least it's a six speed, standard shift.
Mario Andretti couldn't believe the luck he was having, not losing a race since back in...
» left by Susan Thom(8,162) Susan Thom (159 days 11 hours ago.)
hi ken, another well written, interesting article that is a pleasure to read. the words flow nicely, thanks for sharing,
best regards,
sue thom Respond to this comment
» left by Robert Melaccio, Sr.(6,741) Robert Melaccio, Sr. (156 days 22 hours ago.)
Ken you describe a very eaceful environmnet perhpas most like you? I wish at times many of us could find that, or at least find the time to find that, or at lease make the effort to find that. Good job, just maybe I will get a chane one day to find that spot? Respond to this comment
» left by Ken McCreless(173) Ken McCreless (156 days 2 hours ago.)
My sister used to compare me to the cartoon character "Ralph," who could imagine his way out of any situation. We all have that "spot" in our minds, Robert, we just have to find the door- we already have the key. Thank you for reading.
» left by Camille Strate(1,127) Camille Strate (154 days 14 hours ago.)
apparently, you do just 'fine' without 'em (the drugs, that is). praise pan! (you know, the pipe-playing, fun-lovin', stinky-assed goat-god). and if you haven't read THAT article....well, maybe YOU'll get a laugh. hugs, brilliant one.
camille
» left by Ken McCreless(173) Ken McCreless (153 days 3 hours ago.)
It makes the day go better, I've found, to take a "side trip" now and again. Thank you, Laura, I appreciate it.
» left by Teresa Ortiz(4,556) Teresa Ortiz (153 days 11 hours ago.)
Hi Ken,, thanks for taking me for a stroll--it was the most excercise I had all day. :-) Seriously, I love your laid back style of writing. It is enjoyable and relaxing. Blessings to you. Respond to this comment
» left by Ken McCreless(173) Ken McCreless (153 days 2 hours ago.)
Thank you, Teresa. I am grateful for the "need" to write.
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