The smell of day old bonfire hits me as I ride through White Clay. Something about the smell of a bonfire is comforting, something familiar that I know all to well. The smell of bonfires is also one of the many scents of fall and it is definitely fall in this part of the world. This morning it is surprisingly warm for November and I excitedly put on shorts for my bike ride to White Clay- taking every chance I can get to capture the warmth before we plummet into the deep freeze of winter.
Today it is abnormally quiet with the only sounds coming from the river and from an airplane thirty thousand feet above me. Not even the sound of squirrels rustling through the leaves or birds flying in the morning sun are here this morning. The trees are barren yet surprisingly the river is not choked with fallen leaves anymore and it is now flowing at a rapid pace with no debris to slow it down. Although the trees no longer have leaves, green grass pokes up from under the fallen leaves on the riverbank. I guess nobody told them that winter is coming.
As I turn my attention back to the river I notice that the water level has dropped a significant amount this week and that many rocks are now forming island chains dotting across the river. Interestingly, some rocks are jagged and sharp while others are more rounded over- probably from the constant weathering that they are exposed to.
A breeze slowly rolls in and with it comes birds- little flycatchers and what appear to be some specie of chickadee begin flying back and forth over the river- probably just like me- taking advantage of this nice day.
As I continue to sit here (my left index finger going numb for an unknown reason) I cant help but think how much I would rather live a life in nature than in a stuffy city or suburb. Call me crazy but the times I’ve enjoyed life the most have been in nature and with friends. Sure, not all of my times outdoors have been “fun” with countless times being on the verge of tears while stacking hundreds if not thousands of bails of hay- my fingers bleeding right through my leather work gloves. Or doing what I thought was a responsible thing and helping build hiking trails- while at the same time procuring late stage Lyme disease and turning my life into what I consider a controlled downward spiral. But, looking back on all of my experiences, I would rather be cutting and stacking hay than work in an office-doing a job that is meaningless and mind-numbing. Hank Lentfer in “Moral Ground” said that he “want[s] to live a simple, rooted life not because a place of privilege feeds on other people’s poverty, but because meals of venison, potatoes, and nagoonberry pie fill our kitchen with gratitude-crazed grin”(346). That is exactly what I want- a simple rooted life, a life that is meaningful and a life that is connected to what I love, focused on the important things in life.
I am so thankful that countless experiences growing up have taught me the way of life I want to live and what in life makes me happy. Some may think its weird that I enjoy spending my Friday nights in the woods around a bonfire or fishing instead of “turning up” but to me, those things are more important to me and are far more enjoyable.
To quote Dale Jamieson, I want to live “a life worth living” (183). A life that is pure, a life that is close to nature and the people I love. I can live without the drama and complexities that so many people are dealing with everyday. Yep…I’ll be just fine with a simple life.