Wallace Falls

sun-breaks, inside jokes

up-highway two like old times

ten years gone too quick

The coffee put down roots as we started down the road. Conversation chattered fast. She needed to be reminded of directions after just six years of living two states south. Early in the morning we talked light. Careful to avoid troubles of the heart. We felt caught up fast, before we ever got to the trailhead. Exchanged questions about long-lost friends. Some burn-outs, some housewives, some on the PhD track.

hilltops were frosted

donuts, weather changes fast

here in late April

The trail was murky. Worn-out running shoes sunk deep into soft-muddy ground. The falls were bursting. We dove into the heart trouble. Wondered at God’s pedagogy. His reticence to use positive reinforcement. It was nice to hear a story that put my own in perspective. Nice until the sympathy pains dropped my heart on the trail. The vine-maples laden with moss listened to our sob-stories and drooped a little lower. The sun-breaks turned to rain. I put on my jacket in time for the hail.

God pleaded the 5th

on his reasoning behind

the change in weather

No conclusions were reached by the time we got back to the trailhead. No crystal ball was needed to see shittiness in the immediate forecast. We ate greasy diner food served by a middle-aged woman who spoke like a fifth of whiskey and two packs of cigarettes. The food sedated the conversation on the long drive back. The old evangelical in me wanted to pause a moment for prayer, but instead commented on the futuristic looking new Jack-in-the-Box just outside of Monroe. The prayer would have been for something more than functional.

decent weather comes

in spurts till mid-to-late June

let’s hope for more spurts