TA TA essay

A natural beauty captures the land. From this hill I see folds in hills and valleys of green descend from my gaze. Ridges are etched upon rocky cliffs. Solitary paths carve through velvet green, like a slash of gray twisting into a winding ribbon.

Within AAHS and OOHS, tiny lakes sparkle from the sun.

Trees sweep to water’s edge. Huge Blue Spruce, Birch and Willows dance as friends. Savoring my balance I play follow the leader in steep descent. Hanging onto limbs with sharp needles, sometimes slipping, bare toes scuffling with rocks then splashing with delight as I am flung into the stream.

This good toss into a flood of moisture completes the day.

One of my special hideaways is a stretch of creek meandering through a flat speck of land, a beaver meadow. Edges are marshy, difficult to navigate. I keep shuffling through the shallow spots and on occasions lose my balance and tumble fully clothed, from a protruding bank sheltering a trout or three.

Weary from my hiking and ensuing wet experiences I find myself challenged in my appreciation of nature. Words of beauty are difficult when a taste of muddy bottom occupies my mouth.

Partridge and rabbits cluster together as cousins in the gathering. It is difficult for an active lad like myself to stand still long enough to observe further movements. Each pile of feathers and animal characters seem rooted to the soil as they stare, almost nose-to-nose, at each other’s features.

In the meaning of time, the sun continues to provide a blanket of heat, as from a winter’s fire. Except this is summer and consuming hot.

A deer, a young one slips easily through the trees and I watch in fascination. I am the intruder. Alas he sees me and a wave of his white tail is a quick farewell. My journey now complete allows me to fade quietly through the trees and return home.

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© Richard L. Provencher 2008

Co-authors Richard and Esther Provencher invite you to view their newest novel SOMEONE’S SON written during Richard’s recovery from a stroke, which gob-smacked him in 1999. It is a Young Adult novel dealing with a family crisis. http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_someonesson.html