Presence

A moment I had in nature with a lovely woman who came across me in the woods.

The cool shade sheltered me from the sweltering weight that was the Michigan heat wave.  Despite the discomfort of the prickly vines, lacing my boots and the looming threat of itchy ankles & calves from the lingering poison ivy, the moment of quiet out in the shelter of the trees was a welcome reprieve from the mixture of excited chatter and tired groans from the campers back inside enjoying the synthetic heaven that was air conditioning.  Milky, translucent Meijer bag in hand I set out to work collecting and snapping twigs for a more practical shelter building lesson.  The weather called for quick timeline changes and indoor activities lest sunburn and heatstroke be the souvenir sent home with campers to the quiet of their houses.  The haughty and entitled parents of my campers would not take kindly to such things despite sending their kids to nature camp.  So here I am out in the wilds of suburbia collecting twigs and scrapes in the thick humidity under the trees.  Sitting on the ankles of by boots I ignore the thorns and mud and continue my work quietly in a meditative fashion.  Focused on the snapping of vines and twigs I hear a crack that didn’t belong to me.  Lifting my eyes up I see her coming through the thicket not 25 yards away.  Her thick dark lashes unblinking.  Ears alert; she considers me.  We sit in silent stillness for what seems like an eternity examining each other.  She finally decides I am no threat and she continues her search for twigs and leaves.  I join her in our search, though for different reasons.  We work amongst each other for a time I battling thorns and poison ivy she battling flies and detection.  Compared to her majesty I am causing a racket with my incessant snapping of sticks and brushing of mud.  She simply meanders through the trees stopping occasionally to browse on a twig or bite at a fly.  Together we take what we need and then when finished make our exit back to our respective places.  My place in the manmade structure that was the parks building, her into the quiet of the woods.  As I turn my back on her and on the trees, I can’t help thinking that this cherished moment is too rare and happens to seldom.  Not as God intended.  That man and creation be separated by stone and ignorance.  Contemplatively I return to the air conditioning and consider.