Our family took a nature hike.
The famed Banff Fenlands was our goal.
The ancient forest, shady trails
And ‘Pooh-sticks’ bridges. Lovely stroll.
We’d quite an age range, I’ll agree,
From newborn babe to Gramma, old.
Saw ravens, squirrels, chipmunks, elk,
Nine burrows, nests and lichen mold.
Two had fallen, skinned their knees.
One got moss/bugs in her hair.
Three had roamed, chased back by me.
One rammed a tree, his eyes . . . elsewhere.
Two slipped and soaked at least one shoe.
One needed nursing. Mom! Right now!
Our favourite sort of family fun,
While jumping roots and dodging boughs.
Beside the trail, a rotted tree.
‘Twas taller than the other plants,
Was struck by lightning long ago,
Then finished by car-pen-ter ants.
Our son, Erik, explained it thus,
To cousins ages five and six.
He reached and grabbed the ancient trunk.
The four kids simply stared, transfixed.
“This happened once the tree was killed.”
He pulled on it to illustrate.
The tree split down the middle then,
A giant felled by its own weight.
Our son stared at the crushed remains.
A wee bit stunned by what he’d done.
The kids were happy, they’d not foreseen
Such a show when they’d begun.
“Your Dad just ripped that tree in half!”
They said in their vernacular.
His young son grinned and “Yup” he said.
“My Dad, you know’s spectacular!”
There’s lots of things for you to see,
With all your family. In the woods.
Not all of them about nature,
But each and every one is good.
Mondays do get knocked a lot,
With poetry, we three besought,
To try to make the week begin,
With gentle thoughts--perhaps a grin?
Now post our poems for you to see.
And when you’ve read what we have brought,
And next week in our neighbourhood,
We'll tackle 'working'. It'll be good!
A very descriptive poem Diane, I was right there beside you.
ReplyDeleteJoan (Devon)
I hope you weren't one of the ones who fell and skinned a knee, Joan! ;)
DeleteWith all those animals seen on your walk, who'd have thought there'd be one with superhuman strength . . . who you'd actually brought with you!
ReplyDeleteBigfoot is real! ;)
DeleteAh the silence of the trail, the whisper of the leaves, broken only by the screams of those who fall by the wayside. This was a fun one Diane.
ReplyDeleteDragging the walking wounded along in our wake, we finished the hike . . .
DeleteExcursions like this have to have some mud and water involved. And usally a scraped knee or two. Thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteSo true! I guess that's what makes them most memorable! :)
DeleteIt's not a great walk until someone gets hurt or at least scared :)
ReplyDeleteWorking - duly noted! And note to self: try a short poem next week. My head nearly exploded trying to finish this week's poem :)
Oh, but that poem this week was sheer genius!
DeleteHah - you are FAR too kind, Diane :)
DeleteI can see their eyes widen with the rotting wood. We used to go camping and point out fake bear scat if we didn't know what it was, then of course when we saw was the real thing it was time to get back to camp quickly!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you figured that out and left the area. We watched several tourists this summer that got themselves into the STUPIDEST situations! I don't know why the bears don't simply turn to eating 'tourist'. IT's so freely offered . . .
Deleteso I read on Procrastinating Donkey what Monday poetry is all about. I read her poem this morning and yours tonight. both different approaches the the theme. Enjoyable poems.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Red! It's amazing to me how different everyone's poems are. Even on the same topic! Join us!
Deletethis is a beautiful poem story. I like the idea of Erik ripping the tree in half. Nature would have done that soon enough, so no harm done and the kids got a show to amaze them.
ReplyDeleteTotally true. I'm quite sure he only precedented the occurrence by a short time . . .
DeleteA walk worth remembering.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly was!
DeleteNature would have done that soon enough, so no harm done and the kids got a show to amaze them.
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