“Let’s
go this way!” I insisted, thinking I knew where I was going. Andrea and Emily had no choice but to
reluctantly nod because they were just passengers in our ranger, having no control
of where we were going. We drove
to a creek I’ve always known was there, but never visited often. I was trying to find the end of an old
4-wheeler trail, but realized the trees overgrew where we needed to drive
through. I parked the ranger, and started
to look around. The first thing I
noticed was a new bright green gate put in between our fence line property with
a fresh trail leading up our neighbors hill.
I
saw the gate and was very curious to where it lead; the only problem was trying
to cross the crystal creek without getting wet. I saw this beautifully tall twisted tree that had been blown
over, but not enough to have fallen over, so we decided to try and push the
tree down. After I realized the tree wouldn’t fall because it was too tall, I
noticed that up the creek a little bit, it was extremely thin and shallow, so I
decided that would be a much better way of crossing the creek. After crossing the creek, walking up
the trail gave me almost a spooky feeling, as we didn’t know where we were
going. The trail seemed like it was going on forever and slowly getting steeper
and steeper. Once we got to the
top, we found our neighbor’s house and green shed right at the opening, so we
decided to start our journey back down the hill.
Once
we went down the forever trail, we started walking around looking for new
things out of boredom. On this old
fallen tree towards the point where we crossed the creek, we found out that if
you used a firm stick, you could write on the tree and it would keep the words
printed on there like a piece of paper.
We called it the carving tree.
We all wrote our names and dates in huge monster letter so you could see
it from far away. While we were
carving in silence, I noticed all of the different sounds that could be recognized.
I
don’t think I will ever forget the delicate noise of the leaves lightly dancing
through the narrow openings in the trees.
The peaceful noise of the flowing creek could put you at ease without
doubt. The creek not only has a
soothing sound to it, but also a fresh taste to it. When you get on your knees, dip your hands into the
refreshing water, and touch your lips to the chilly liquid, the taste seems to
fit the moment perfectly.
We
all started walking back to the ranger.
As I was walking, I started realizing all the different things that
happened within that hour: crossing the creek, walking the trail, the carving
tree, and the soft noises. I never realized how the simplest thing could leave
an echoing impression going through your mind. Even though I’ve only visited that creek a few times, it is
most definitely one of my favorite places.
