Glen — craig davidson

This glen isn’t in Scotland, but when I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, I imagined it could be. I don’t know if it would feel more like the Highlands, the Lowlands, or maybe it’s like the in-between. I’ve never visited, but our family has roots in that part of the world, so it’s a place I think about occasionally. The earthy smell reminded me of Florida after an afternoon storm too, and even an early scene from the film Spirited Away because it felt just as mysterious. The path was only visible because of the way different plants reflected the light before it continued into the dark.

I was told a story when I was in middle school about a hook man in Wadsworth Park located on the edge of my hometown. He targeted lovers who were alone in their car at night. He almost succeeded once but as he approached the couple’s car, the driver noticed him at the last second and quickly rolled up his window trapping the hook man’s arm. As they sped away, only the hook was left dangling from the car window. I never knew if it was true, but because of that story and the fear of the hookless hook man, I never ventured into the overgrown park. It was a place people were discouraged from exploring but I always stared hard into it when I drove by, looking for the slightest movement.

Here though, I follow the barely defined path into the deep shade that’s ideal for ticks. They aren’t deer ticks, the scary ones, so I wasn’t too worried because those begin to appear in Wisconsin. After pushing aside low hanging tree branches and walking through shrubs, plants, and shade, it slowly got brighter and transitioned into tall grass, the sound of moving water, and louder birds. The change from light, to dark, to light again, felt like a living garden gate to a green room on the opposite side. All those other places, those other memories didn’t go away as I stood in the small meadow, but they receded. Now it was more about the owl I hadn’t seen until it turned towards me, and the blue above the trees.

Songs :: The Boy In the Bubble by Paul Simon, On The Road To Find Out by Cat Stevens, and For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield