Astral Nomads

One man, one woman, one rabbit......traveling with the stars.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A Night of Fret

It was a lovely day yesterday out in Nature, and yet when we returned from dinner at the newly opened Mexican restaurant in town , I looked out the window of the place that is starting to feel like home and got to thinking... uh, oh.



Suddenly, I was a jangle of nervous tension as repressed feelings of fear and anger crept in my mind... it happens.



Anger over the fact that the engine from the warranty company has been taking over a week to arrive and somehow I feel stung by a company that provided us our long awaited traveling home and now is dragging it's feet on standing by ...well, you get the picture. I don't share Gerry's Buddha-like patience and compassion and the tension mounted to almost explosive proportions as I could feel what seemed to me like silent disappointment.



Think of the day's happy events, I thought to myself.


There was a group of children at Harpers Ferry who lived at a nearby boarding school which focuses heavily on American History and they were doing various colonial times re-enactments... "future leaders," the park ranger explained. Then I was struck with a sickening terror. Not a hundred yards from where the children grouped, Gerry and I had come across what looked like a dead corpse wrapped in a blanket with the shoes sticking out. It was so lifelike that I told Gerry that we must find a ranger to report this horror, as a few feet from the body which lay in the reeds there was also a piece of old carpeting washing up on the banks of the river. Gerry laughed and said that it was part of the exhibition, as the shoes and blanket seemed of a "period nature." The quiet of the sunny day gave way to a sudden wind a almost gale force as we made our way along the Appalachian trail. We didn't discuss the body again.

[Gerry did write a poem about it though: Harper's Ferry, 2010]


My over-active imagination now got the better of me, as Gerry slept soundly, and I sat alone... wide awake from a previous red-bull and shivered in fear. What if that wasn't a prop, and we didn't report a murder victim? Why would those children be subjected to such a scary and lifelike vision of death as part of their curriculum?

Now even thinking about the hiker we saw on the Appalachian Trail , walking at an uncanny speed and dressed like a nordic gnome gave me the shivers.


I finally slept, after checking the local news for murder and re-reading the gruesome details of John Brown's foiled siege at Harpers Ferry, but it was not without nightmares. Oh well, there are bound to be some thorns on the rosebush.


-Wendy

12 comments:

  1. Such a remarkable post, Wendy. Your images tell so much.

    From one who has spent many a fretful night, remember that each day begins a new adventure.

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  2. You are right...what a grotesque and unnecessary object for that aged children.

    Sleep better tonight!

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  3. Thanks Megan... for those kind of nights I'm glad I brought along my stuffed animal Babe to clutch on to. Things seemed brighter by the light of the day.

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  4. Thank you Erica... it seemed so unnecessary and inappropriate to me. I'm glad I now have an expert opinion to concur. Love ya!

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  5. how weird!!! do you know when you'll get on the road?

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  6. That is a very strange thing to have lying around! Pretty creepy!

    I know the van thing must be very frustrating but you have all the time in the world at this point in your lives and no schedules, so enjoy each day.

    One thing to remember, that "woman thing" can really magnify a mini crisis or disappointments into outlandish proportions!

    Sending lots of warmth and love!

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  7. We should be on the road again by the end of the week Barb...only of course there is no guarantees as we have learned!

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  8. Thanks Sandy... I hope to have left that "woman thing" back in NJ, although I am prepared for that. LOL. I'm told though that the paranoia and moodiness do linger, so I won't be too hard on myself! Warm wishes as always my dear friend!

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  9. People who see the dark side see life more fully and understand things at a deeper level, in my opinion.

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  10. Oh, I so agree Tree...I've learned that when you face the dark night of the soul, fears will dissipate like a fading dream and understanding follows.

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