Life After Peace Corps

One Bleak Winter Day

I have been feeling idle for more than a week. The weather was not helping. It rained nearly every other day. Last night, snow fell. I am an outdoor person so today I ignore the damp cold air and go out for a walk.

The gentle slopes around my neighborhood are still mottled with snow patches, here and there, quite lovely. The cold air stings against my face, but the rest of me is warm inside thick layers of clothes. I listen to the clicking of gusts in the high branches and think that winter has finally come upon us like a fist.

Before I realize it, I am at the entrance of the Monticello Park. The place is empty. Since I discovered this little wood area, I have been coming here regularly. By now, I no longer fear the silence of the woods. After crossing the bridge, I become conscious that I am not really alone. I can hear the rustling sound of dried leaves right underneath my foot. The noise continues to follow me so I stop. A mysterious “creature” is playing hide and seek with me. After checking me out for a few seconds, the animal loses its interest. The rustling of leaves abruptly stops and I am alone again. Now around me is nothing but leaves and I remember this delightful poem by Elsie N. Brady:

Leaves ~~~

"How silently they tumble down
And come to rest upon the ground
To lay a carpet, rich and rare,
Beneath the trees without a care,
Content to sleep, their work well done,
Colors gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly
Until they nearly reach the sky.
Twisting, turning through the air
Till all the trees stand stark and bare.
Exhausted, drop to earth below
To wait, like children, for the snow."

Suddenly, an alien sound blasts out and I am startled by it. It is my phone. A friend from New York calls and we chat for a while. After I hang up the phone, a sad feeling overwhelms me. She is a friend, someone I did not think about, really. Someone I hung out with nearly every weekend back in New York, someone I took for granted all those years, someone who was a part of my life…..