The Woods
This was written in November of 2015. It’s very fitting for this time of year. Enjoy!
I grew up in a small town. We lived 30 minutes outside of the city, on a quiet road. It was a red dirt road when we first moved in. There was an old iron bridge going over the river, it was old rickety and amazing.
I grew up in the country.
My folks didn’t have cows or horses, we mostly had chickens, rabbits and dogs. My brothers and I spent so many hours up in the woods, making forts, playing and exploring. My little brother Jacob and I used to pretend that we lived in the woods. We would make little fires and cook random things like clover stew. We loved it as kids. Our favorite after school activity was playing on our tire swing that our dad suspended high in a tree, man you could fly on that thing.
We always wanted bikes for our birthdays or Christmas so that we could ride up and down our driveway and sometimes through the woods. We used to wipe-out a lot back then, but it was okay it was just dirt. On rainy days we would go outside and make ourselves little rain shelters while we played. Jacob made a mud pie and threw it up on to the electric pole. Last time I checked it was still there, well over 10 years later. When it snowed we always knew Dad would be game for a snowball fight. We would get up early and rush out into the snow, make a huge snowball fort and make a stockpile of snowballs. Boy we were ready. Summer time meant inflatable pools or the hard-sided kind, one year we actually had a really sweet Intex blue pool. We would stay in it all day. Mom would bring us out pb&j sandwiches and we would have picnics.
Today I live in the city. I have a decent sized backyard (for the city) not too far from a busy highway. The grocery store is literally 5 minutes away. Most of the friends I have live here in town. We do have a nice house. But there is something huge missing. Something I know I can never have as long as I live here.
Silence.
I make jokes with my husband about needing to go back and visit home to recoup. In reality I honestly need that. When I’m in town everything is so busy. Town literally has a white noise affect with cars, traffic, the bus of the highway, sirens and a lawn mower down the street.
There is never ever silence the way that I have been used to at home. I can’t stop and just hear the air blowing through trees, or a bird singing off in the distance. Between those sounds, when the air is still and there aren’t birds around, there is actual silence. My brain can turn off and I can just sit, listen and relax. I can actually listen to my own thoughts and sit still.
If you have lived in town your whole life and not spent much time in the country you really should. It is so relaxing and you really do feel so refreshed when you come back out of it. At night you can actually see the stars instead of the city glowing so bright it blocks them out.
Today for the first time and a long time, I actually just got to sit in the woods with my little brother. For a while we let the dogs run around and explore but then we put them up and went back to just sit.
I want my kids to have this and the calmness that comes along with it. I want them to play in the forest and really learn about what’s around them. It really was one of the best ways to grow up. I had room to run around outside of a fenced in yard, and I feel like my kids deserve that chance too. I can’t wait to take them on their first hike. It’s going to be magical.