Tell me a time when you were so surprised that the moment has never left you.
“…… deep in the night, he’d leave his camp and walk until the trees abruptly ended and the waters of the pond swayed before him. He’d drop his clothes and slip into the water. The lake’s top few inches, after cooking all day in the sun, would be nearly bath warm.”
The Stranger In The Woods, M Finkel page 114
So our hermit Christopher would have a few treats during his time in the woods one of which was bathing in a lake.
Any good story comes alive as our imaginations react and respond to it. I haven’t stopped reacting and responding since I picked this book up. Upon reading this section my mind cast back almost as usual to my boyhood and our many adventures with lakes whether in mountains or man made.
I belonged to the Boys’ Brigade (BB) from the age of 4 to 13. As we progressed in years we would be taken to weekends in the Mourne Mountains. The BB had an old hut which acted as our shelter.
We would spend our days walking in the mountains and nights participating in some adventure game. It was on one occasion, we had been walking most of the day when we came over a ridge and the lake in the photo lay before us. No one had said it was there and I couldn’t believe a lake could appear up the mountains.
Some of us were happy to get into it to refresh ourselves from walking.
The sight of seeing that lake has remained firmly in my mind ever since it was a magical moment so when I read these words of Finkel describing Christopher bath in the lake I can almost splash him from my own memory.
I was reminded due to a few interactions today of something that Christopher said at the start of the book. He was being asked about his motive for getting lost and in his reply, he said something to the effect that sometimes people can be too complicated and he decided he would be better on his own.
People can be wonderful and encouraging though at times their behaviour can put you off people. I do often wonder why some and their antics get so into my head. Yes, I do all the exercises I have picked up over the years though it is still hard to shift their negativity.
If I got lost in the woods I would ensure I could still type here on Medium as it feels a safe place to communicate the inner workings.
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