May 26, 2012

Trail Guides

My parents were my first trail guides, and introduced me to the natural world.  My sisters were my traveling companions in it.

We picked berries in the back woods, hunted morels on the roadside, and gorged on crisp filets at fish fries on the shores of glimmering lakes.  We collected curious pieces of driftwood on hot, sandy beaches, waterskied and went tubing through lake weeds, and swam the crooked circumference of an island in the middle of Gun Lake.

We canoed on the Au Sable River with my grandmother, camped in a Jayco pop-up at state parks, and rode horseback through our own woods.  We gathered sticks for campfires, strung sunfish and bluegill on a line, and hunted through the autumn woods.  We built snow forts, ice skated on backyard ponds, and snowmobiled on frozen lake tops.  It's no mistake that my CB handle back then was Nature Girl.  

We drove dusty back roads, through the woods, picnicking wherever we happened to be.  Mom curled bologna into the triangular bends of Butternut bread while Dad sliced cheese from a Colby round with his jackknife, and broke apples in half with his bare hands for our lunch.  The family suburban was my Conestoga, carrying me into the west of my future life.  

These experiences fortified my soul and I count them among my chief joys.  Thanks, Mom & Dad!

2 comments:

  1. This was a very cute peek into your past. Thank you for sharing it. ;)

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  2. Thanks for your comment - it means a lot to me. :)

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