Forest Walk

Early morning, just as the sun rises, is my favorite time to walk in the forest.  The misty air is still saturated with the scent of last evening’s campfires.  The soft chirping of the crickets accompanied by deep, throaty croaks of bullfrogs in the creek begin to fade as the birds awaken with the sun.  ”Someone has put cries of birds on the air like jewels”, a line from a short story by Anne Carson runs through my mind.

My steps are muffled by a moist layer of pine needles and leaves.  Starting off at a slow pace, I gradually increase my stride as the sunlight kisses the forest floor, leaving behind its sparkling peachy lip prints of light, transforming dawn’s subtle shades of gray to browns, blues, and greens.

The path begins to climb along the hillside ridge overlooking the creek and I climb along with it, higher and higher until I’ve reached the top.  Wildflowers poke their colorful heads above the prairie grasses and sway in the morning breezes, shaking off sparkling droplets of dew.

Crossing the clearing with the warm sun on my face, I start down the hill toward the cool valley once again.  The leaves whisper their poems as fingers of wind massage their highest branches.  The soft trickling of the creek increases as I get closer.  Carefully picking my way across the water, stone by stone, I reenter the valley and head back to camp. 

Beep, beep, beep…beep, beep, beep…beep, beep, beep…

The soft mechanical alarm interrupts my morning reverie.  Cell phone service way out here?

I open my eyes and look at the stark scene before me and hit the ‘STOP’ button.  The treadmill slows and stops…my workout is over for the day.

290 words

NOTE:  When I go to the gym I like to use the treadmill set on the program "Forest Walk".  I can enter my top speed and my top rate of incline and it will create a walk for me that begins slow and speeds up.  Then the percentage of incline increases and the speed slows until I reach the plateau; then it begins to decrease until it levels out and the speed increases again.  Finally, the program slows and beeps its alert before going into "cool down mode".

I put a forest sounds recording on my MP3 player, put in my earplugs, open my water bottle, and close my eyes and imagine my favorite walking trail in the spring or fall.  The other day I thought that I would write this piece, ending it when the alarm sounds.  The Writer's Cramp prompt gave me the perfect springboard.

In Anne Carson’s short story, “Short Talks,” she says: “Someone has put cries of birds on the air like jewels.” Your task is to use that quote in your own story or poem.