Chapter 6: June 15

 I finally have some quiet hours in which to write. Much has happened. I will start where I left off last week, ready to go but not sure where that was to be!

I woke early on June 15 feeling clear, fresh and afraid. Yes, afraid, for how could I not be? The weather - clear with a cool morning wind - inspired my sense of adventure, but I also felt fear, not knowing what was to come but knowing it would involve leaving the safety of my home, my neighbourhood, my family and friends and routines.

My pack was ready and I moved it onto my porch. My husband came out and sat with me in our plastic Muskoka chairs while I ate a filling breakfast. It was very early for a night owl to be awake, and he looked sleepy and disoriented and anxious. I felt for him - how hard it must be to let me go in this way, and not know where I was going.

At 8:00 am, a group of people turned the corner of our block, under the great pine trees at our neighbour's house and moved at a relaxed but synchronous pace towards us. My heart jumped, my stomach dropped, my throat caught, my head swam - it was finally happening. Frank sat up, alert, curious. 

There were seven people in the group, with Jennifer in the lead. They were all fairly close together, not saying anything, and looking around. In time I'll describe each of them, as I came to know them well - for now I will say they represented a range of bodies and experiences, manifesting in their language and expression. 

They arrived as one at the end of our walk and came up the path to stand at the foot of the porch steps. Frank looked bemused. I was speechless.

"We're here and its time to go!" said Jennifer simply. 

I stood up and put my pack on my shoulders. I turned to Frank and kissed and hugged him. I reassured him at the same time as he was reassuring me, and I felt sad, but also excited. I reluctantly let go of his embrace and moved down the steps towards the waiting group. They smiled gently at me, and we walked back to the street. Jennifer kept moving forward but I looked back at Frank. I could already feel the effects of her spell on me, my heart rate was slowing and I was settling into contentment and curiousity, letting go of fear and anxiety. I took a last look at Frank, who waved at me and smiled, and then I turned my face towards the east, and took my place in the group walking steadily forward. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 10: The Woodpecker (Joanie's Story)

As Ellis was telling his story, we continued to travel along the Walter Bean Trail with the Grand River to our left through the trees and suburban houses to our right. When he finished, we moved along in companionable silence for a while, and then a tiny, wrinkled woman with very thick, white hair who carried her pack with an almost miraculous sense of ease, said, "My name is Joanie and my story isn't very long, though my life feels so. Way back in the beginning of things - well, it's not so important. I have travelled a great deal in my life, and accomplished many things. But I am here today for something that happened not so very long ago - only two years - which is not long at my age - so I'll tell you only my more recent story - although maybe later on, I'll tell you more about my life in the past." Everyone nodded so Joanie continued. "Two years ago I discovered that one can feed chickadees on the north side of the hill in Hillside Park. If you come ...
Read more

Chapter 9: The Jake Series (Ellis's Story)

We were quiet for a long time after Jennifer spoke. It was about an hour later, around 10:00 am, when we reached Victoria Street, crossed under it and the elevated railroad track by Kolb Park, when the first member of thee group spoke.  "I was born with a congenital heart defect," a young man in his mid thirties, thin and pale started abruptly. "Obviously it affected how much I was able to do as a kid - but I liked being inside, I mostly wanted to read comic books and watch movies, and I didn't really care that much about other kids." He had fine, longish black hair, sparkling pale blue eyes and a relatively steady gaze, which he occasionally turned towards the group as he spoke. "But I wasn't afraid to go outside or anything. We'd take family trips and while I often preferred to stay in one place reading, and I wasn't able to go on the more lengthy hikes they sometimes took without me, I was happy to participate in most activities and I enjoyed...
Read more

Chapter 8: Where we were going and what we were doing

 We didn't stop at the Bingemans parking lot, but kept going. We passed through more parking lots, the water slides in the distance and a pond with a jet fountain in the foreground. People were milling around, enjoying their summer vacation. We passed unremarked, just another group of tourists hiking the trail, albet with a lot of gear - perhaps they thought we were practicing for a longer hike. I didn't know which of these assumptions might be true.  We continued on through a pretty park area next to a campground, absolutely bustling with activity, noise and smells. It exhilarated me to see so many people in motion, in travel, in living something different from their normal days, and I thrilled to be a part of it. The next long while, we followed the trail between empty fields back onto industrial buildings off Shirly St. I knew we were eventually come to Stanley Park Optimist Natural Area, where I had been a few times with my husband on practice drives, and on my bicycle far...
Read more