Excited about my trip to swim in a river for the first time, and needing to get away from my family before they drive me nuts, I yell as loud as I can, "Come on guys, hurry up!". It's always impossible to get them all ready to go at the same time. Thoughts of what it will be like to swim in a current that's not man made, like the lazy susans at the water parks in Florida, taunt my mind, making me even more in a rush. We drive down the winding, hilly road slowly, for we aren't used to hills as big as the ones in northern Alabama. After what seems like an eternity we arrive at the river. I jump out of the car, gladly leaving my family behind, and run to the water's edge.
The water, cold and clear, is perfect for swimming in this hot summer day. I jump in, giving a yelp of surprise at the actual water temperature. When my feet touch the bottom they slide around (the alga on the rock makes it impossible to stand steady) until I give up and start to swim again.
I reach a place where the water current has lessened from an uncomfortable push to a gentle, comforting tug. It is quiet; all the noise from humans is not present. I can hear nature's chorus as the frogs, crickets and birds sing their gentle song with the accompaniment of the wind softly rustling the leaves of some trees. The sounds comfort me, relieving me of the mundane stresses of everyday life and revealing the calmness an joy Eve must have felt during her short stay in the Garden of Eden.
Crawling onto the riverbank, I lie down, the sheddings of the trees act as a cushion underneath me. The weaving branches form a canopy up above me creating a natural sun umbrella. A wonderful sense of peace and serenity overcomes me, a feeling I know is impossible to fee away from this place. The soft dirt and sheddings mold around the shape of my body, giving the sensation of being a part of the earth. The silhouette from the canopy creeps ever so softly as the sun travels its path across the heavens.
Hearing my mom yelling for me faintly in the background breaks me from the trance-like state, and I notice just how much time has passed. I stand up and jump in the river to wash the dirt and leaves from me. Realizing disappointedly that it's impossible to swim against the current, I once again crawl onto the riverbank. I take one last longing look at the place where I became a part of the earth, knowing I will not return to this special place again.
I pull myself from nature's trance and begin my long walk down the path that leads back to humanity -- to the place where the slime isn't on the rocks but in the streets doped up and half drunk. The crickets and birds, perhaps sensing my despair, quiet their song to an almost loving lullaby. That day, that feeling, I will never forget. Like the memory of a dream, the time I spent on the riverbank swirls together making it impossible to tell where it begins and where it ends.
Copyright Misty M. Millard 02/07/1998
**notes: amazing how Alabama, Andy, and Kelly park were still so much on my mind at that time. It was right around the time I got engaged to Tom. How sad. I should have followed my heart.**
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