Last week, my Human Factors class was assigned a "Nature Walk", where we had to go outside, take a walk for an hour and then write a couple of pages about it. We were supposed to get in touch with our feelings and observations, and think about what we miss when we "drive through life". I chose to do mine as a story narrative. I think I've been reading too many chick novels. ha.
Well, here is is. Hope you like it. :)
I stepped outside my
front door and shivered. I heard a loud, crushing noise and looked up to see
the wind bending the huge oak tree in my front yard near the horses. The front
door was difficult to shut, as it was being pulled by the gust. “What a day for
a nature walk!” I thought to myself as I ventured off the stoop. The wind was
borderline ridiculous, and I considered heading back inside, as I was
practically pushed sideways. My horses, Aowyn and River, whinnied a hello, with
probably a touch of,
“what-the-heck-are-you-doing-out-here-you’re-going-to-be-blown-away” in their
loud trills. Sierra, the oldest in this equine group just stared at me as her
brown mane blew every which way. My face was freezing at this point, and my
nose started to run. I reached into my sweatshirt pocket and grabbed the tissue
I’d put there. That was the first convenience I thought of during my walk, and
I was grateful that tissues were available so I didn’t have to search for a
non-poisonous, well hydrated leaf and scratch my already dried out nose on it.
As I made my way forward, my feet tucked safely inside my
black Ugg boots, I thought about how much more thankful I should be for shoes.
I stopped and slipped a foot out. The ground was cold and rocky with loosely
packed dirt. It was cold. I mean, if I didn’t put my shoes back on I’d probably
be missing a pinky toe by the time I went back inside. Not to mention, I’d
probably end up with a rock poking out of a gash in my foot. So, I opted for
the luxury of sheepskin.
The wind was still blowing like it meant it. All three
horses were now looking at me, wondering what I was doing over there, playing
in the dirt with my foot. It smelled like someone had lit a fire in their
fireplace, and the wind carried the smell to my nose and then whipped it away
with another huge gust that just smelled like cold. It was as if the wind were
playing with me, teasing me and laughing that it was making my nose run again.
I headed over to the smooth, and cold, again, fence and
crunched on the long, sharp pine needles. “Those would hurt.” I said out loud
to no one in particular. I ducked my head to walk under some low hanging
branches, and kicked a pinecone. That was answered with a snort from River, who
seemed annoyed that I wasn’t petting her and also that I didn’t seem to be
bearing any gifts of apples or carrots. The tree groaned and bent again, and I
wondered at how powerful air is. It’s a crazy element. You don’t think it’s
that mean, but then it gets a tree branch to narrowly miss smacking you in the
face, and you realize you don’t have very much power over anything. The wind
was pretty much taking over my nature walk, jumping up and down for attention
as I tried to notice to the rest of the trees, the pebbles, and the little
patches of grass that were chewed on by either the horses or the frost. There
wasn’t a cloud in the beautiful blue sky- the wind had whisked those away too.
I kept walking down towards the mailbox on the long,
rocky slope that is my driveway. I tried to position my feet so that the wind
could push me down the incline, but it didn’t cooperate. Lame, I wanted to dirt
ski. There were more patches of longer blades of grass by the metal mailbox.
The pavement had begun, as I had reached my rural street, so I took off my
shoes again. I tried to guess how long I could get an ice cube to stay whole if
I put it on the pavement. It would probably be a long time. I looked around at
the neighbors’ houses, and across the street to Vasquez Rocks. The beauty of
those ruddy orange slabs jutting out of the ground is just amazing. The whole
view makes you feel tiny and insignificant.
These days, as we drive through life, we miss a lot. We
keep our noses buried in our cups of coffee and adjust the heater in our car,
and keep our shoes on. If I had done that today, I would have missed the cozy
smell of someone’s fireplace. I wouldn’t have heard my horses neigh their
greeting and swish their tails. We miss wonderful fresh air and the terms of
what is real in life, when we drive through life on our way to indoor
schedules. I think we all need to take some time to stop and smell the pine trees.
