Mud season is here, then again, mud season brings Maple sugar season at the Audubon. A favorite walking place for Papa, Me and the boys. So many trails to choose from but when we are with the boys they always want to go to the Rockery. Boulders stacked to create arches and a grotto setting, constructed in 1905, provide an adventurous walk along the Rockery Trail, which of course, is very exciting for little boys. It's a beautiful walk to get to the Rockery, partly along the meadow where the birds sing and fly in and out of their bird houses. Further along we go deeper into the woods where planks and stairs have been installed to make walking easier and to keep little feet from stepping where they shouldn't. One of the boardwalks provides a great place for everyone to hand feed the birds. That's always a lot of fun and really teaches the kids how to be quiet and have patience while they wait for their bird to land on their hand. Ducks, and water birds, flowers and ferns all grow along the marsh and waters as we continue on our walk to the "big rocks"..With two little ones in tow, it takes a while to get there. Lot of stopping and bug watching. First though, back to this visit, our first of the season and we always start at maple sugaring time.
Back on the trail this year has much more meaning for me than in years past. Yes, it was the first trip of the season but it was also the first time since October that I have been able to walk very far at all and one of the first times walking outside. It was, to say the least, my first big challenge, and If not for the boys, I would not have made it all the way to the Rockery. Oh I paid for it the next day but, honestly, it was time to give my new knee a test drive and although I was a bit shaky, I was also excited to be "free" again.
I get attached to things, very attached. My cars have names and I frequently talk to them when driving. I have a had time parting with books, even though I might have had them for a very long time. I think those are the best ones. If someone gives me a gift, I hold on to it way beyond the time that I should have let it go. So I was not surprised when I was told that I needed a total knee replacement, that I would go through a sort of crazy grieving process when saying goodbye to my old knee. I'm not talking about a down and out, crying jag or anything nearly like that but I did sit down one day and sort of think about where me and my knee have been and how far it has taken me in my life. An inventory, so to speak, of our journey together over these many years.
During these last few years, when the writing was on the wall, that I would eventually need a new knee, so many of my "friends" would say, "no surprise there, you wore the damn thing out". That used to make me so mad. Now, I guess they were right. Now, I understand that me and my knee walked,biked, swam, traveled all over the world and climbed a few mountains together. It supported me in my effort to lose over 100 lbs over 35 years ago when I beat the hell out of it on the treadmill everyday. It gave me strength to climb mountains, swim in the lake, and to travel along woodland lanes to visit with nature. It even gave me the flexibility to run after small boys before it finally became to tired to run anymore. It was hard to make the decision to have the surgery but like everyone says, you know when the time is right and for me, that happened last October, after my trip to Chicago..when I limped in pain the entire time..so goodbye old knee, your really got me to a healthy life style and some very exotic places...
I won't go into the details of the surgery or recovery except to say that I'm not a great sitting in the chair, popping pain pills kind of person. Oh at first it was o.k. because the pain won out. Not for long though..It is not an easy process fighting back. I have great respect for all those people who have lost limbs and fight their way back. I can't even imagine. Everything that happens to us in life, teaches us lessons. Spend a few months in outpatient PT, on a regular basis, and it humbles you. I did my part there...pushed through the pain with one goal in mind...hitting the trails and treadmill again. I still have some recovering to do, but I am able now, to put one foot in front of the other and go...wherever I want. I won't be climbing any mountains soon, perhaps never, but I got to the top before and the race is on again. This morning I got to two miles on the treadmill...I so missed my treadmill. Now, I've also got myself back on the trail with my most favorite trail guides...the boys.
Yes, it is mud season but the that's o.k. We navigated around it to the smell of the maple sap being turned into syrup. We got to taste it right from the maple sugar shack. Energy for the walk to the Rockery, where not only do the boys climb the rocks, feed the birds and take their own photo's..they continually turn around to make sure I'm there and to encourage me to keep going...even when I wanted desperately to sit on the rock and wait. Without their little voices calling me and their patience in waiting for me, I am sure I would not have done the whole trial. So, yes, we are back on the trail again and as I continue to heal I dream about where this new knee will take me and the boys...but know for sure, we are on our way.
Buckets hanging on the Maple trees.
The smoke room at the Maple Sugar Shack.
Resting on the tree limb before we start our trail walk.
Off we go to the Rockery.
Did I mention that it was mud season...and who do you think lost his boot and kept right on going..If you could see this up close...Liam is just killing himself laughing..off with the sock and back in the boot.
Liam waiting patiently for a bird to come to his hand.
Just a pretty picture along the way.
The bridge...we are almost there...
Finally, we are there and I can sit and rest...but it sure feels good to have made it.
This is what they love. The boulders and caves.
Back on the trail. The boys to a place that they love, every time it's different but the same. That is how nature works. Me, just being back on the trail when there were days I wondered if it would ever happen. At the end of the day all was right with the world again. I'm not saying that I didn't need a good rest and some ice...but since this day with the boys, I have been walking outside, by myself as often as the weather allows and the treadmill, well, it's there for me whenever I want to use it. I'm starting to bond with my new knee, I think I'll keep it...As for the boys...they surely are Keepers Also...Keepers of our adventures...
Happy Mud Season in New England...Happy Spring...
"The future will belong to the nature-smart-those individuals, families, businesses, and political leaders who develop a deeper understanding of the transformative power of the natural world and who balance the virtual with the real. The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need." Richard Louv