marsh

When I was in school, I spent my summers at my sister's house, which was previously my parents' house. It was situated within walking distance to the shoreline, where there still is a nature center, and walking and biking paths. There were a series of mounds in the marsh, and it was fun to ride my bike across them, along the paths that others had made. I'd pedal hard to reach the top of a ridge, and zoom down the precipice into the bottom, then use the momentum and pedal hard to reach the top of the next. It was a series of hills and valleys, screaming speed and mad pedaling, but oh, what fun!

The house is again my parents' house, my father now walking slowly with a cane, whereas when they lived there before, he could lift a cow. While on this trip, I visited that marshy playground of my youth, walking the short distance to the shore. These days, the hilly bike paths are gone, the area now a series of high priced houses, as shown above. There is now an asphalt paved walking path, whereas the path I remember was gravel. This is the first time I've walked this area since those days on my bike, and the trees of the new houses look like they have had 7 or 8 years of growth on them. These changes make me realize the time that has passed, how long it has been since I was here last. Although I am not an "old" man now, if I saw me now when I was of the age when I first biked the path, I would say that the me of now was very old indeed. I feel time weighing upon me.

The paved walking path along the shoreline follows the same route, and I walked along it to the marina. The path is now crowded with people, whereas I remember being the only one riding the trails on my bike. Here is the place where the water was violet as the sun set, and I watched it in quiet solitude. There is where the clouds of insects lay in waiting for me to pass. That place is where I lost control of my bike, skidded out, hit my head, and there was no one to see this accident. There is where the driftwood collects. Those places are still there. There is still beauty to be found. Though the years have passed and new pathways laid, these things have not changed.