I wasn’t sure which direction my wife went. We were staying overnight in a state park, in country we’d never been before. She went for a walk with our dog soon after we unloaded our gear just before dusk. We’d been driving the entire afternoon and all of us looked forward to stopping for the night. While I searched for an outlet and organized my CPAP machine, I looked over at our daughter and it dawned on me that she probably craved time alone too. So, I finished what I was doing, put my shoes back on, kissed the top of her head and encouraged her to call if she needed anything. I identified the most worn trail near our access road and followed it thinking she would have done the same. Our cabin wasn’t fancy, or even typical for most state park cabins we’d stayed in before. It had a pair of windows on three sides, a kitchenette, a small bathroom, a concrete floor, cinder block walls shaded by a grove of oak trees. It was a hot, humid, summer day and we were on our way to Omaha to drop our daughter off where she was meeting up with a bunch of other teenagers and guides from across the country to live and camp in the hills for ten days.
After walking for fifteen minutes, I found myself ascending a gentle ridge above the forest canopy. I noticed a secluded pond below mostly in shade, with very little beach. The trees were so close to the water in some places that many had collapsed into it, overlapping each other and making it feel even more wild. In a small clearing lit by the sun, I saw a few people standing in front of the pond. I scanned it slowly and eventually identified my wife and a minute later noticed our dog splashing in the water nearby. I yelled her name and waved. She turned, looked up towards my voice, and waved back. I didn’t see a clear trail that descended through the forest towards her, so I continued along the ridge. Eventually it led to a worn rocky overlook with views in all directions. A few other people milled about, or sat on rock ledges looking, and talking quietly. We’d never been to Nebraska and It still felt familiar.
After forty minutes, I returned to our cabin. My wife was already back with our dog and she was assembling dinner while our daughter nestled on top of her sleeping bag with one of her books. They’d already laid out all of our bags and pillows on the sleeping platforms, with each of our duffel bags neatly lined-up while the last of the sun filtered through the trees. It was cozy and the gentle smells from outside drifted inside from the open windows.
Songs :: Never Stop by Jackson Browne, You Got Something by J.J. Cale, Copperline by James Taylor, Watching the River Run by Loggins and Messina, and Reason to Believe by Bruce Springsteen
© C. Davidson