I felt like I was there watching your follies. And I felt scared with you and for you. (Truthfully, I am terrified of being lost in the cold.) Great short story and I hope everyone really appreciated that tree. Happy New Year to you and yours.
Thank you for relaying your story of Christmas ordeal. It's a great reminder that we humans, even at the height of all our powers, are still just a veneer away from an uncaring universe. Your/our family, though, is a beacon of hope that can help us focus our minds and get us back to our path.
This was so much fun to read and made me think about how I felt in church when I was a kid, how my parents had spiffs during the season (whose doesn't?), how my Dad would have done something reckless like this (where his heart overruled his head). It was easy to visualize your disorientation and circle-walking, I've been in a snow-covered pine forest at night in winter and it is beautiful but eerie. Your story was a gift of memories of my own Christmas pasts and I thank you for the pleasure of it.
A really nice story...and it's also really nice that you survived to tell it! It's so easy to get turned around and confused in the woods, even in good weather and light conditions, much less in snowy darkness. Most people who have spent any time in the woods have experienced that moment of panic you mentioned, and then hopefully were able to pull themselves back together and start thinking more clearly.
What a nice story. You have a real gift for writing and I think that you just gave me a great Christmas present. God bless us all; each and every one of us. Loosely paraphrased from Tiny Tim.
I'm glad you kept your head. Great line about the whole world becoming one's 'foe', suddenly.
Was recently disoriented (quasi-lost) in the snowy woods of NM. It all felt minor afterwards, though for a half hour faced the quickening terror of being cut off from all known points, of everyone and everything familiar. There's something oddly addictive (for me anyway) to getting lost and finding one's way back again...I don't know why. Tugging on the umbilical cord of existence
Very good story, thank you. Yet I cannot refrain from making this one comment. In Part One, if you walk in snow that "reaches almost to my knees", no one by the palest "trickle of moonlight" can fail to retrace their steps.
I felt like I was there watching your follies. And I felt scared with you and for you. (Truthfully, I am terrified of being lost in the cold.) Great short story and I hope everyone really appreciated that tree. Happy New Year to you and yours.
Thank you for relaying your story of Christmas ordeal. It's a great reminder that we humans, even at the height of all our powers, are still just a veneer away from an uncaring universe. Your/our family, though, is a beacon of hope that can help us focus our minds and get us back to our path.
This was so much fun to read and made me think about how I felt in church when I was a kid, how my parents had spiffs during the season (whose doesn't?), how my Dad would have done something reckless like this (where his heart overruled his head). It was easy to visualize your disorientation and circle-walking, I've been in a snow-covered pine forest at night in winter and it is beautiful but eerie. Your story was a gift of memories of my own Christmas pasts and I thank you for the pleasure of it.
A really nice story...and it's also really nice that you survived to tell it! It's so easy to get turned around and confused in the woods, even in good weather and light conditions, much less in snowy darkness. Most people who have spent any time in the woods have experienced that moment of panic you mentioned, and then hopefully were able to pull themselves back together and start thinking more clearly.
What a nice story. You have a real gift for writing and I think that you just gave me a great Christmas present. God bless us all; each and every one of us. Loosely paraphrased from Tiny Tim.
Glad you made it to tell the story. Merry Christmas to you!
Walter, A LIGHT IN THE TREES is a "plastic, fantastic" story! Happy Holidaze!
Great writing, Walt. Merry Christmas from Plague Island.
I suspect one of your life skills is a certain willingness to "screw up," moderated by the willingness to fess up.
I'm glad you kept your head. Great line about the whole world becoming one's 'foe', suddenly.
Was recently disoriented (quasi-lost) in the snowy woods of NM. It all felt minor afterwards, though for a half hour faced the quickening terror of being cut off from all known points, of everyone and everything familiar. There's something oddly addictive (for me anyway) to getting lost and finding one's way back again...I don't know why. Tugging on the umbilical cord of existence
Very good story, thank you. Yet I cannot refrain from making this one comment. In Part One, if you walk in snow that "reaches almost to my knees", no one by the palest "trickle of moonlight" can fail to retrace their steps.
Thanks. Memories of my foolish days arrive. The glory of surviving them restored. Hopes for a future in spite of our foolishness!
A great story, told beautifully. Would make a perfect complement to Jean Sheppard's Christmas Story movie.
Sound like the ride between Ashton and Osborn Bridge. A better Christmas story than Die Hard.
Thank God for your hearty Midwestern stock!
Excellent.