Not so strange strangers

“In times of deep darkness, we not only need light - we need to be light for one another.” — Parker Palmer

It’s been a rough stretch of news recently, plus, I’ve been missing my mom, a lot. Today marks four months that she’s been gone.The other day I found myself ruminating over news that was completely overwhelming.The rain of the earlier afternoon had abated, so I got Chacha and headed out for a walk to the Round Lake entry point to see if I could locate the loons that I had heard earlier. Walking alone, I steadied myself and tried to breathe and take in the beauty of my surroundings.

Suddenly, I was startled by a white mini-van pulling up next to me on this quite remote, and fairly washed out gravel road. They rolled down their window and told me they were looking for wildlife and wondered if Chacha was a wolf or my dog. I looked at my poor little Chacha with her purple collar and told them she is definitely a dog and not a wolf, although I have seen wolf scat on this road which does at times make me a little nervous to walk here alone.

They wanted to know where they could find the moose. The moose, the moose, the moose. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked about where folks can see a moose up here, I’d be able to buy a very big milkshake, maybe two. I told them what I tell everyone. You have a better chance seeing the moose in late May and early June because they like to go to the swampy areas to escape the black flies. Now that the black flies are gone, they are deep in the woods, so it’s harder to find them. Folks are always disappointed by that answer because it is not May or June, the black flies are gone, and the humans do not want to venture too far from their vehicles. The moose viewing that they have scheduled into their calendars does not align with the moose’s calendar, and someone should inform the moose of that inconvenience.

The folks in the mini-van continued and I ended up meeting them again at the landing. We stood together and watched a beaver silently glide close to us, then slip under the water to emerge at another point further down the lake. The mini-van folks and I had one of those amazing encounters between strangers who we learn are not strangers. We began to chat about the deafening silence of the Boundary Waters and how healing that is as we all tend to live with a certain amount of white noise that is constantly swirling around us. It was then that I discovered that this couple had met later in life and the husband has been writing haiku for his wife since the day he met her over 15 years ago. Such an uncanny coincidence to chat about the simplicity and power of haiku to express a complete thought for just that moment. We talked about the healing power of being in nature and making connections with complete strangers. It was beautiful, and my heart lightened as I walked back to the house while the thunder in the distance grew closer.

The next morning, the sky was a piercing clear blue and the still humidity that had hung in the air was refreshingly gone. I had another day off, so Chacha and I again headed out for a hike at a different location. Again, my  mind was filled with angst as I had done my civic duty of calling my representatives to voice my concern over a plethora of issues. I try to remind my representatives that my role as a citizen is important, just as their role is to represent my voice that I don’t feel is being represented very well right now. My frustration building, I knew that I needed to get that irritation out of my body. Chacha was way ahead of me on the trail; impatiently waiting for me to catch up with her.

Again, my mind was too caught up in worry to completely take in the beauty of the day, so I tried to breathe, look, appreciate, and slow racing thoughts. I was so surprised to see a couple that I had met at the museum a few days prior walking on the trail towards me. We instantly recognized each other and were delighted to meet again. Here were kindred souls who love the outdoors and again, recognize the healing nature of walking amongst our forest siblings in whatever form they may be. And again, these people helped lift my heavy heart so that I could focus on the beauty of this world that we live in. There is so much healing beauty surrounding me if I can just get out of my head long enough to see it.

It struck me that amidst all of the awfulness of the current cultural milieu that we find ourselves in, we have each other. We can get very caught up in the news of the day, which is distressing, not gonna lie about that, but we still have each other! We can talk with one another, encourage each other, laugh and lament with each other. We can make those connections that turn our hearts around and help us to see that we are still here, in all of our fragile humanity, we light the way for each other.