It was her first day of school..a half-day..followed by some rare time for just the two of us. We decided to go to one of the Lake Michigan trails that we like best and have travelled most. I expected we'd stay on the winding beaten path all the way to the beach for a swim, but Willow's eye caught a steep hill ascending to our right. It
looked like her kind of challenge, and when she asked if we could climb, I didn't need much convincing. We made our way to the top in our swimsuits, dresses and flip-flops..pretty out of breath after catching each other slipping, laughing, reaching for branches..
Once we reached the top, we saw that we were not looking over the water as we had thought would be the case, but instead had found an abandoned dune party spot..bonfire pit and logs..and more trails leading into the woods. We decided that looked like more fun than retreating down the hill we'd just conquered.
We were in luck, seems we had found the magical path - everything was impossibly green. More so than normal..the light and shadows moving across the path were almost beautiful enough to make us oblivious to the
mosquitoes ravaging our exposed skin.
Almost.
But one can only cohabit with biting insects for so long before all zen ideals fail to comfort. And soon we were happy to discover a bend in the trail which led us into a quiet meadow of dune grass. And this is where the walk became Memory. To be kept for always.
About fifteen feet (maybe twenty at most) ahead of us under a small tree stood a large doe eating calmly.
When we saw each other, I froze in surprise. The doe just looked at me, relaxed, curious, and still eating. I turned to draw Willow's attention to the deer, but it was obvious by the wonder in her eyes that she had already seen it. The three of us stood perfectly still for what seemed like a long time. The doe softly flicked her ears around and her nostrils flared at our scent just a little..but she was definitely not scared. And still chewing deliberately.
It felt like we were in a different kind of world, and like this kind of world was one which Willow and I could understand much more easily.
Then the doe took two steps toward us(please remember that she was only fifteen feet away to begin with)..and I snapped
out of the reverie long enough to decide I didn't want her coming *any* closer to Willow with that guileless look on her face and no trees in the meadow except the one she was grazing under..
I said very loudly, in an unnatural voice,"OK WILLOW, I THINK THE DEER IS VERY NICE BUT LET'S KEEP WALKING NOW..OK DEER, WE NEED TO WALK RIGHT PAST YOU SO IF YOU COULD MOVE WE'D APPRECIATE IT!"
The doe blinked at me, and looked more interested in walking up to us than running away.
"Mom, why are you talking so loud?"
"Mom, why are we walking so fast?"
.........
We passed her and climbed the dune path out of the meadow while I kept an incredulous eye on our new friend(who never moved from the spot she had been watching us so closely from..and once we were far enough away, she casually turned her back and seemed to keep eating)...........
Then down to the beach, dresses flying, flip-flops discarded, straight into the water with shrieks and leaps.
Worked on our sandcastle technique with wonderful drippy towers and tunnels..
When it was finally time to go back, we stuck to the beaten path and talked peacefully about the beautiful strangeness of what had happened, and about how happy we were to have climbed the unplanned hill in the first place.
This is Willow after I picked her up this morning from her *first* day as a First-grader. Next to her is Sophia, her first dear friend. They have longed and ached all summer, trading voicemails and talking about each other incessantly. The craziness of our schedule and that of Sophia's family combined with other competing forces brought on by summer prevented any playdates(which we all regretted)..but all the waiting and deferred hope was worth it today when they were finally able to see each other again. Giant smiles and hugs, both talking so fast it was hard to understand either of them..I'm so glad that they ended up in the same class. Sophia was such a strong pull for Willow that she wished summer (a season she loves) would speed up and make way for fall. Now fall has come, and they are going to be together every day. Who knows if they'll still be so wild about each other in a few months - first grade will be an interesting year - she suddenly seems so much more complex. Glad she has a buddy to face the challenges of first grade with.
