Wind In The Bushs...

Last night, the wind blew fiercely, almost til dawn. We got just enough sprinkles to make the ground wet and totally unworkable, as far as my gold drywashing project goes. Oh well! As frustrating as it is, I am tired and maybe someone greater than me knows how tired my body is getting. When I am out in the desert and finding little(I stress little) pieces of gold, I guess it's greed or something that keeps me going; sometimes, beyond my endurance levels...

Over the years, I remember lots of times the weather would take a turn for the worse and I couldn't do my job, or whatever I was involved in at the moment. With a job to do and hard pressed to get it done, I remember the absolute frustration of being interfered with, and at the moment I remember asking: WHY do I have to get stuck in a blinding snow storm at at time like this? In retrospect, I would realize that I needed rest and if everything (the weather, and all) were right, there would be no chance to rest. Somebody or something stepped in and stopped me dead in my tracks; A subtle way of telling me; Take a day  off...

We don't  always know what is good for us, or when to take a break. As we age we have to live with the fact that we can't run the one minute mile anymore, not that I ever was THAT fast, but it is still humiliating to admit we are losing our youth or ability to do things we once did. Some of us try to fight it, but it is inevitable; We are no longer 18 anymore and that's a fact Jack(heard that expression in a movie long time ago)...

Here I am, out in the desert, digging in the dirt for gold, looking for something valuable, but have to admit that some things of value are not material. They say if you don't believe in miracles, you will never see one...
So many times in my past I have been in situations where I should  have been killed or badly damaged, but everytime I have escaped totally unharmed. Don't ask me why, but for the last 72 years I have lived a more or less charmed life.

I won't be able to dig for a few days now(til the ground dries), but as I sit watching the wind blow the bushs (not many trees around here) back and forth, I am forced ( delightfully so) to rest and sort through my thoughts. I have to say a silent...THANKS!  I needed a break...

Down A dark Path...

Everyone has an imagination, some more vivid than others, and sometimes it can get away from us. Have you ever wondered where a deep, dark path leads? You are on a nice walk through the woods and you come upon a path. You look, and it seems to descend downward to some place dark and who knows what's down there? I have...

I guess we all have struggled with ourselves, daring ourselves to find out, but something in the back of your mind keeps telling you...DON'T do it! Don't go down there. Chances are, there is nothing harmful down there but, WHAT if there is? I learned a long time ago that is is easier to STAY out of trouble, than to GET out of it...

I don't know if it was my alter ego telling me I'm chicken, if I DON'T go,  or what , but at last I had to 'Man Up' and find out for myself. I start  down the path,carefully watching where I walked, because I have learned that we are not the ONLY ones in the woods. Lots of things live there, out of sight, and hopefully, out of my way...Still, that nagging little voice telling me...'This is not a good idea'!

The  path is wide enough, as if at one time it was well traveled. The way is wide and clear and if anything was ahead of me I might have enough time to change my plans; Maybe... Run, if necessary. My pleasant walk in the woods has turned into an uneasy walk in the woods. Darn it! Why did I  have to let my ego get me into this? Suddenly, I hear a rustling noise in the brush. My heart jumped a beat or two and I stood still. What could it be?

I knew there were bears around and I really didn't want to run into one. No doubt, they can outrun me, and I don't have anything except my walking stick to protect me. Oh man! I waited and listened and then heard it again. There was definitely something moving there. Now, I know how the animals must feel when they are being hunted. But what was hunting, or watching me? THEN, I saw what it was. I breathed a sigh of relief  when I realized..no bear! Thank God for that. We both stood for a moment or two just looking at each other...

It wasn't the ferocious beast I had imagined and it was young enough that it probably hadn't learned to fear humans yet, but the deer just stood there looking . I guess he was curious, as to what I was. Old enough to be on his own, and curious about this strange creature in HIS woods...Meaning me...

Not at all alarmed, and when he got tired of watching me, he turned, walked a short distance and put his head down to resume eating grass. Much relieved, I walked slowly on, so as not to frighten him. Let him live a peaceful life, while he can.

I moved on down the path, feeling a bit braver now, since I hadn't encountered anything bigger than me. About a quarter mile farther the path began to widen and there it was; the end of the road/path and the answer to where it went. An old cabin, long deserted, but still standing. From the looks of it, it must have been built in the 1800s.

I wondered who might have lived here and wondered how they must have felt when they first raised it and moved in. I'm sure they must have had some reservations about what they were sharing the woods with, but they didn't have the road/path yet...