Wandering through the green.
Many moons ago, I was a highly active Scout. Eagle, Order of the Arrow Vigil Honor, Jamboree, all of it. I basically lived at good old Camp Miakonda.
Then, internal politics (and an OA Lodge chief who hated me passionately) led to my losing my job. I quit, walked away from those woods, and returned but one last time- to see my father through his Vigil. November 28th, 1999, I walked out of those woods, and resolved to not return unless I was ready. Too many hurtful memories of how I left.
Five years and more, and I didn't so much as set foot in that camp. It wasn't that I didn't want to, it wasn't that I didn't love that place dearly, but I wasn't ready.
Then, one day, a friend of mine came to town. We spent most of the day walking through one of the parks, but when the sun started to set, we needed somewhere else. Miakonda called out to me. The woods, the legends of the Crescent Moon, they began to pull me back. So, I swallowed my fear, and walked in again.
It hadn't changed. 5 years and more, and the green is as it always was. The trees and the wild still speak softly in my ear, the creek running through still whispers of decades of Scouts gone away, and for a while, I was 15 again. All was well. Sure, I was burned by the staff, but that is not the fault of this place.
Biggest help was my friend. :-) The more we walked, the more she liked it, the more she loosened up. Time in the concrete jungle was forgotten in favor of time in the green woods. Old wounds began to heal with the green around us, as surely as if they were bandaged and cleansed.
The woods accepted her, my friend. They accept her as they accepted me lo those many years ago. She knows them, and knows their ways. From the incredible light show of a thousand fireflies, to the quiet dignity and sacred silence of the chapel, this place heals. I will be back soon, and I will never leave for so long again.
Then, internal politics (and an OA Lodge chief who hated me passionately) led to my losing my job. I quit, walked away from those woods, and returned but one last time- to see my father through his Vigil. November 28th, 1999, I walked out of those woods, and resolved to not return unless I was ready. Too many hurtful memories of how I left.
Five years and more, and I didn't so much as set foot in that camp. It wasn't that I didn't want to, it wasn't that I didn't love that place dearly, but I wasn't ready.
Then, one day, a friend of mine came to town. We spent most of the day walking through one of the parks, but when the sun started to set, we needed somewhere else. Miakonda called out to me. The woods, the legends of the Crescent Moon, they began to pull me back. So, I swallowed my fear, and walked in again.
It hadn't changed. 5 years and more, and the green is as it always was. The trees and the wild still speak softly in my ear, the creek running through still whispers of decades of Scouts gone away, and for a while, I was 15 again. All was well. Sure, I was burned by the staff, but that is not the fault of this place.
Biggest help was my friend. :-) The more we walked, the more she liked it, the more she loosened up. Time in the concrete jungle was forgotten in favor of time in the green woods. Old wounds began to heal with the green around us, as surely as if they were bandaged and cleansed.
The woods accepted her, my friend. They accept her as they accepted me lo those many years ago. She knows them, and knows their ways. From the incredible light show of a thousand fireflies, to the quiet dignity and sacred silence of the chapel, this place heals. I will be back soon, and I will never leave for so long again.
posted by Tirithien at 9:03 PM
2 Comments:
Those woods are full of past spirits, but you know this. Going there was like finding a home I never knew I had. The wind whispered words of acceptance through the leaves, and the Crescent Moon herself welcomed me. Well could I see how you love it there, and also how that place loves you.
The darkness has left me for a time.
The coldness, the winter, the bitterness,
The dark anger I keep at the back of my mind,
The secret hatreds no one knows,
The nightmares, the fears,
The torment in my soul,
All gone away.
Left behind
In a place that seems a world away
And a lifetime ago.
In its place,
I was left hope,
Blossoming in my heart
Like a lily basking in the sun.
The Moon did accept you, the ground itself hugged you close. The place likes you. :-)
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