Trail Heads

My journey began on a pleasant day in late Winter, just when it appears the choke hold of ice storms and freezing temperatures have lost their grip. It starts in the morning with one of those invasive medical procedures that one has to have after reaching a certain age of maturity, but never looks forward to, oh sure, it is all very professional and impersonal for everyone except the patient. But the real trail head comes in the evening, when my wife of 25 years marches in and explodes in anger for two hours and tells me she is considering divorce. At that point everything begins unravel like a badly knitted sweater, life seems as disorganized as that lifeless mass of yarn. It will take another two weeks and a short hospitalization for depression, on my part before, she will finally announce her intentions. Until then she will make my coffee and kissed me goodbye to disguise her decision.
The next five months become a blur, a hypnotic wave of one crisis, anger, and chaos swirling into the next. A hospital stay, preparing the house for sale, therapy, finding somewhere to live, terms, finding a part-time job and all the crushing emotions that the demolishing of a relationship incurs become part of daily life.
I want to stand at this trail head and look around at the dappled sunlight passing through the pine trees and illuminating the rich, thin black soil. A Stellar Jay flits from branch to branch, seeing if there is any possibilities for a meal, but all around me there is silence. The trail is a rising one that will slowly bring me to a summit, rocky and well trodden. Backpacking is a journey of the mind and feet, top to bottom it includes the whole being, nothing is left out. It is also a journey that becomes lighter with the passing of the days. It is with these thoughts that embark from this trail head and hope you can join me along the way.