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 Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 3:36 pm
So.. I've told everyone about the fact that I've been working on a college English Composition assignment. and I've gotten at least two people who want to read the whole thing from the two segments I've shown. So.. here it is. Discus, hints, ideas, all is welcome. (it's in next post, so you know) oh yeah.. it's 7 pages when double spaced of stuff. hehe. I got carried away!
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 3:40 pm
From the age of eight, I always had a different belief system. It isn’t exactly like any one religion, yet it has similarities among many. Like with all beliefs one is apt to question their choice. I was no exception. It was harder for me to have it re-affirmed, rather than anyone else due to the nature of its being wholly spiritual and unorganized. Most other religions would laugh or scold me for what they consider to be folly or for being a heathen. Well, I started to question it at age fourteen and a year later I had the re-confirmation. It wasn’t through any normal means mind you. It had also shaken my Christian acquaintance that was there with me to such depths that it couldn’t have just been my imagination.
My acquaintance, really someone I was once friends with, had heard all about the stories of me exploring this little wooded area and enjoying the little bit of nature. It was the beginning of spring, a rather dry one at that, when we went to the woods south of Eastwood Manor Mobile Home Park. It lies along South Victory Drive, seen just to the right of the intersection of Balcersack Drive and Victory Drive. He had always wanted to explore it, this coming from someone who wasn’t really into nature I thought was weird, but I offered to take him there anyways. I love the place and at that point I had nothing really to do so I agreed to show him. So, on a bright sunny afternoon on the weekend he biked over to my place. It was pleasantly warm still day, so he had come over without a jacket, besides we weren’t going to be out there long enough to need one whence it got dark out.
After greeting the short stocky fellow, trying not to laugh at his ridiculous bright orange shirt that with his girth made him look almost like a pumpkin, we headed out. I had worn my usual outfit, tan khakis and a graphic t-shirt. I got onto my silver Robinson bike and he onto his GT and we pedaled off, with me in the lead and veering south towards the parks playground. Thankfully he had a bike lock, for the prior year the once easily accessible woods had been fenced off by the government which would mean we would have to abandon them. The land had been bought by the nearby government building but nothing was done with it. Due to it being fenced off it became more of an interest to teens due to the feeling of being bad by crossing private property. It wasn’t long before we were looking at the woods through the fence, just a short three minute hike across low shrubbery. To him it was a bit of a novelty, to me, I felt something calling to me. I always felt a certain pull towards it.
So we locked our bikes together against the fence, well my friend did. I was too eager to go and had flopped down into the half pipe that was under the fence to let water run. I shimmied my way forward, popped up on the other side and looked at my friend’s reddened, pudgy freckled face. He looked a bit worried and concerned.
(pt 1/4)
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 3:41 pm
“Aww, chickening out already?” I teased him. He never really was the sort to go explore. He’s two years younger than me, and always tried to act all cool and nonchalant as I did. More so because he was into Rap and thought he was a badass white gangsta, even wore headbands and got in trouble at school with kids and the faculty because of it.
“Shut up! I’m not scared! I just don’t want to rip my shirt is all. How the heck did you get over there?”
He held his pose straight, trying to act all cool again. I ignored it, but realized he had a point. The pipe was half hidden and I wasn’t sure his wide stomach and butt would give him room to clear the fence’s bottom. I pointed out the spot where I slipped through, and he looked at me incredulously.
“Dude, there’s no way I can fit through that!” I laughed and at that he got down and shouted at me, “Damn man. If I rip this shirt I’m gonna hit you!”
I laughed again and held up the bottom of the fence to help him through. With a bit more struggle then I had he finally was on the same side as me, and punched me anyways. It was a friendly punch, one that was deserved of me for laughing at him. I chuckled again and dodged his second hit, and headed towards the woods. I headed for the land bridge access. For there was a stream that blocked the access from our current position into the heart of the place, plus, it would make it so I could show him all the cool parts of the forest. It had old rubble and some foundations of a few houses that were once there, probably back from early 1900’s.
(pt 2/4)
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 3:42 pm
The trees weren’t yet in full bloom, so there wasn’t a lot of shade, and it made it so the reawakening plants were able to grow easier due to not competing for sunlight. As usual, my friend complained that we had to walk so far even though the west entrance was only a few extra minutes to get to. I enjoyed the walk, minus his whining, and I couldn’t help but feel that strange pull towards the forest. I had to slow down repeatedly I was walking so fast in my excitement. When we finally got to the entrance and I say it’s an entrance because the stream came this was as well, and ended in a pond to the right side of the land bridge. I’m guessing at one point the bridge was wider, and from the seven logs that lay to one side, almost near the point of falling into the stream on the left side, that it was going to be made into a real bridge complete with a roof, like in the old days for horse driven wagons. The fact that I know there is the rusting remains of a wagon farther in only aided that idea.
I showed him the land bridge, but it wasn’t much really to look He was surprised that it was even there, him and his mom passed it only twenty feet away in a car without even noticing it many times before. Me, I was still surprised the path hadn’t been grown over, now that the local kids who had motor bikes couldn’t come out every day to race across the paths and two jumps they made. After my friend got his breather, we headed deeper into the forested area. Being so close to the road we could hear all the cars going by. It was kinda surreal to be within a wild area and still hear the sounds of the city, but it was a balm to my friend who was starting to get skittish. In the middle of the little area there is an intersection, one going left, across the stream, which I had noticed earlier looked dry, and now realized it was indeed dry. To the right, was the next place I was going to show my friend. There was a thick group of trees that hid the foundation of what appeared to be of two houses about halfway down the path. Following it would come up to the parking lot of a lone building. Though I think now there are actually some apartments there.
We poked around there, With my friend both amazed and even more skittish. He didn’t want to go up the hill into the clearing where the odd piles of rubble were located, so I decided not to go show him, or check it out myself. I loved how now the bird song was more prevalent then the sound of the cars nearby, even though we were still about less than half a mile away from a major road. This only made my friend even more skittish.
I didn’t care though, that pull was tight on me now. And so I went back to that crossroads, and turned right again, heading to another clearing which is where the older kids of the park had made a big jump out of a mound of dirt that has been there for who knows how long, probably as long as the carriage and house foundations that lay hidden in the forest. IT wasn’t really anything to see again, and my friend, now slightly bored and not as skittsh, asked if we could go. He didn’t see why I talked about it with such interest and passion before. I didn’t care, in fact, his words fell on deaf ears. For back behind the big jump, or mound of dirt, was another, harder to see path then any of the others. And here, the plants had seemed to grow more vibrant. I was curious, and I’ve been this way before, it’s how I knew about the carriage wreckage. But I haven’t gotten too far because the foliage got too thick. I was intent to see what was beyond it, now that I could use the dry stream bed as a path. My friend followed; because he was curious a bit as well, and I had egged him on that he was being a scaredy cat about being in a forest.
(pt 3/4)
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 3:42 pm
I got to a point where the low shrubbery, even this new stuff, was thick enough that I had to duck under what appeared to be an arch. We were heading to the source of the stream for the forest, I could tell that as much, but what I saw as I passed that shrubbery that seemed to be a sort of blockade I wasn’t expecting. For beyond it, was a clearing of a sort. With five trees situated in a circle in the middle, a campfire spot directly in the middle of it. The trees were thick, with tough bark and stood taller than the rest of the surrounding ones. I felt a strange sense of energy, of a power, in this place. My friend had come in, and was awed just as well. I surveyed the area, and noticed that the five trees were placed in a perfect circle, and not just that, but their gnarled limbs twisted up, and towards the center, making a natural roof.
I was shocked, and I knew then, I had found something that was beyond anything I had ever hoped. To some it would be known as a druids circle, to others a freak occurrence in nature. But how could that work, when we are still quite close to the road, but suddenly, all we could hear was a perfect, still silence. I was awed into a similar, reverent silence, and it was then that I heard something even more startling. I was about to ask my friend about it, but he beat me to it.
“What the heck is this place? Jesse, this place is freaking me out. I swear those trees are moving when there isn’t any wind to move them.” His eyes were wide, and he was definitely freaked out as he darted his head about.
“I don’t know. But, I think your right. That or the trees are talking.” And he concurred; though the idea was alien to him. It was the only way that in a windless day we could hear the creaking of the trees. Trees don’t creak in a rhythm, with a definite construction and logical pattern of creaking in turns. Plus, there was that strange power. Just beyond my perception but that seemed to pulse and reverberate inside me. The power of this place was calming to me. I wanted to stay to listen to the Aldrich trees conversation, to try and decipher what it was they were saying.
For you see, my belief is that there is more to this world then what meets the eye. That more than just humanity has a spirit, a soul. And that everything is sentient in its own right. And one of those things that I felt had a soul was not just the plants and trees, but the earth itself. Along with the belief that spiritual energy can pool in concentrated areas, helping to foster life and infuse strength within that which lived nearby. I had known of one such place for years, where the Pow Wow is held. But I never realized exactly what it was, until I found this node, which I was standing in. I was happy, ecstatic and relieved to know that my belief is true. Rather, that there is truth, an affirmation of its existence and that I have seen it.
But, after a while of listening to the strange, alien creaks and groans from the nearby trees, and the sudden feeling that we had over stayed our welcome, my friend started to freak even more. He was begging me and inching towards the exit that we leave. It was too alien, too absurd and unreal for him to handle. Too different then what he was told to believe that he thought it was evil or menacing. His fear had crept into me, and at the feel of being a trespasser to some entirely sacred area that I still haven’t been truly allowed into made me succumb to his wishes. As we fled out of that grove, I had to look back. And as I did, after having passed the shrubbery that had hidden sight of the grove for years, I spied something I couldn’t fathom. The shrubbery seemed to have moved, to have block off the pathway once more. I had felt something tug on my sleeve as I had passed, so I watched to see if it shook from my passing, but it didn’t, it just moved, and stayed there, blocking the view entirely. I asked him later about that, and he said he had looked back due to hearing a strange rustle and saw the same thing. Coming from a Christian, who doesn’t believe things easily besides his own religion, was more than enough confirmation from me to know I didn’t imagine it.
I was glad to have the reaffirmation, to have found what I now call a spiritual energy node. Four years after that I went back and was dismayed at what I found. The grove of trees were dead, not one of the five trees stood, and the area no longer held that deep pulsing feel of a power just beyond our perception as it had then. But to this day I’m still glad I had seen that, and I haven’t questioned my beliefs since. I thank the Spirits of those trees, who had allowed me at least that glimpse, and cry for the loss of such wonder and beauty.
(pt 4/4)
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:13 pm
Sartol, do not be sad for the loss of beauty. Although what you saw is now gone, the energy no longer prevelent, it still remains in other parts of the world. And though you may never get another chance to see something as miraculous as what you have described, the magic of that place will still reside within you. You are very fortunate to have been allowed to see such beauty. I can only dream of being as lucky. I hope you get a wonderful grade on this essay. It actually made me cry.
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Magnetic Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:16 pm
aww.. and.. The place I mentioned in ther (known as Land of Memories Park) still has it.. it's becuase it's not a node, but a pool. that place has a awesome amount of energy in it.
I really didn't think of it as being sad when I first wrote it, but I can see where it could be. Glad ya loved it. also. yes, my name is in there. Now the question.. what's the title going to be?
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:25 pm
I cried not because it was sad, but because I am very passionate about things like that. quoted is the section that brought tears to my eyes. Quote: For beyond it, was a clearing of a sort. With five trees situated in a circle in the middle, a campfire spot directly in the middle of it. The trees were thick, with tough bark and stood taller than the rest of the surrounding ones. I felt a strange sense of energy, of a power, in this place. My friend had come in, and was awed just as well. I surveyed the area, and noticed that the five trees were placed in a perfect circle, and not just that, but their gnarled limbs twisted up, and towards the center, making a natural roof. I was shocked, and I knew then, I had found something that was beyond anything I had ever hoped. To some it would be known as a druids circle, to others a freak occurrence in nature. But how could that work, when we are still quite close to the road, but suddenly, all we could hear was a perfect, still silence. I was awed into a similar, reverent silence, and it was then that I heard something even more startling. I was about to ask my friend about it, but he beat me to it. “What the heck is this place? Jesse, this place is freaking me out. I swear those trees are moving when there isn’t any wind to move them.” His eyes were wide, and he was definitely freaked out as he darted his head about. “I don’t know. But, I think your right. That or the trees are talking.” And he concurred; though the idea was alien to him. It was the only way that in a windless day we could hear the creaking of the trees. Trees don’t creak in a rhythm, with a definite construction and logical pattern of creaking in turns. Plus, there was that strange power. Just beyond my perception but that seemed to pulse and reverberate inside me. The power of this place was calming to me. I wanted to stay to listen to the Aldrich trees conversation, to try and decipher what it was they were saying. For you see, my belief is that there is more to this world then what meets the eye. That more than just humanity has a spirit, a soul. And that everything is sentient in its own right. And one of those things that I felt had a soul was not just the plants and trees, but the earth itself. Along with the belief that spiritual energy can pool in concentrated areas, helping to foster life and infuse strength within that which lived nearby. I had known of one such place for years, where the Pow Wow is held. But I never realized exactly what it was, until I found this node, which I was standing in. I was happy, ecstatic and relieved to know that my belief is true. Rather, that there is truth, an affirmation of its existence and that I have seen it.
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Magnetic Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:34 pm
aww.. I see. That's actually the section i was working on when you poked me. hence why I was like "aww. Yyou poked me in the middle of the point that I'm most passionate about.
still. glad you loved it. I noticed by rereading it here a few grammar errors I shall fix promptly though.
but yeah, I'm hoping to get a good grade too.. and not have the teacher read it aloud either (I know it's for a high praise when they do such, but still.. I'd rather not have it read aloud)
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:40 pm
I knew there was something different about you. As it turns out, you and I see things the same way.
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Magnetic Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 4:46 pm
serris94 I knew there was something different about you. As it turns out, you and I see things the same way. *Chuckles* at least it's a good different. so.. you actually have the same belief? huh. wow.Didn't expect that. I should have though, I guess.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 5:01 pm
Yes I do. Hence why I loved your essay so much and why it brought tears to my eyes.
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Magnetic Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 5:06 pm
ahh.. and.. you know.. spiritual pools and nodes are all over the place, so are lines, the things that connect them all. Funny thing, that my highschool I went to had a spiritual line nearby. think of it as a layline in a way.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 5:10 pm
I know what laylines are. there is a point in my back yard where laylines cross. it doesn't look like much of anything, but you can feel the energy there. I love to sit there and read, or just sit and meditate or play with the energies.
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Magnetic Conversationalist
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 5:19 pm
ahh.. cool cool. since I've moved I've been pretty much devoid of any line. this area doesn't have anything nearby. the clsoes is that line by east High school. the other choice is land of memories, downtown and about 5 miles from my place.. on foot, not fun.. nor is it (back up hill) on bike
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