There I was, alone...
In the middle of
a sandy road
up in the high hills
north of Elk.
I wasn't exactly in the "middle..."
I was in the right rut
going downhill---right side---
a habit hard to break.
I wasn't exactly alone either...
A little lizard paralleled me for
a dozen feet, in the sandy left rut...
A lizard still out five weeks from
The Winter Solstice!
I was hunting, with friends...
and in a fit of determination
had climbed that low hill...
which turned out to be
a high hill.
It was mid-afternoon---
Suddenly the sun seemed
much lower...
Yogi would've said:
"It gets late early, up here."
All at once, it hit me:
"I am tired, thirsty, out of water
in my canteen--nobody knows
where I am...there's a cold nip
suddenly in the air...and I want
out of here. I didn't mean
to come this far!"
My trusty used 30-30 which
I bought in college for fifty bucks
was also getting heavy.
I soon came to a dirt road,
heading downhill toward the sun..
Ah, my direction exactly!
Dirt roads, with lots of sand
in each rut, with a hotch-potch
of weeds and grass in the middle...
The ruts looked as if only vehicles
had been in them...
(Oh, there's a cow track...)
I plodded along, silently, in the
right rut...the sun was getting lower...
And it was shining right down the ruts,
as if to show me the way...
I thought I could hear my boots
Whispering as they swiped thru the sand...
After walking awhile, the autumn sun
began to warm me...
and the silence started to scream!
Loud silence! An oxymoronic situation
for sure!
And all at once, I felt like I wasn't there...
In fact, I wasn't anywhere!
My oh my, what a great time
to sit and meditate on the creation
and the Great Truths of life.
But meditating wasn't for me
that day, on that two-rutted
sandy road coming down that
mountain...
I wanted out...
I was young, 23, and in good shape.
I played tennis, and
was Doubles Champ in ping pong...
But it had been a long day...
It happens to every hunter or hiker
at one time or another.
My dad, one winter day
in the fifties---while hunting,
got off into the deep canyons
of the Magdalenas---time ran out...
it got late, and he told me:
"Suddenly, I wanted out!"
(My friend, have you ever driven
out around Ladron Mountain?
Now, if you get the urge
to really feel alone,
Drive down there, into
the back country---
where you will find these
marvelous two-rutted
sandy roads---
Park.
Walk in a rut,
on the soft sand,
It will go on, forever...
You'll find loneliness
there...solitude...
and let me know what else...
.............you find.)
*******30*****
BY MIL
11/17/13
Sent from my iPad
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