We walked to the edge of the woods and saw that they went up within inches of the lake, making it very clear that there was no way around them alongside the lake. We must find a passage through them. I started walking in the directions my instincts carried me and within moments I realized I was entering onto a path already tread upon by human feet leading straight into these woods. An eerie silence filled the air. I continued following the path and it took us into the woods in a nice direction with the water visibly in sight the whole way. We walked along merrily until suddenly I took a sharp step and recoiled seeing there was not only a massive and intricate spider web in front of me but a huge bright yellow and black spider sitting upon its center. I felt the familiar fear of spiders rush through my nerves and I soon found out Erik's fear for the little insects outweighs even my own. He began to be skeptical about the path we had chosen but I assured him we must continue along for the benefits and rewards would greatly outweigh the great danger we were putting ourselves in by treading down an unknown path to nowhere and everywhere. We sat and studied the spider for moments, amazed and terrified at its colors, and I looked down at my hand to see the identical spider crawling on the knuckle below my middle finger. I screamed in terror and shook my hand on an instinct as the horrifying spider went flying off and I felt fear numb me from my head to my toes. Erik screamed in his confusion and thought I had been attacked or shot at and my terror became his own until I finally informed him of what had happened. I have no idea how this spider ended up on my hand but it was horrifying. We reassured ourselves, ducked under the web, and continued on. Many more webs blocked the path, most of them with the same species of spider upon it, so I began to use my fishing pole to wipe away the obstacles in front of me like a light saber securing the path ahead. We walked on and soon we lost the path. I told Erik our only option is to tread the unknown woods where no man has walked before. "This is terrifying" he responded, but as a loyal companion and good friend, he carried on in faith. We navigated through this jungle for many timeless moments until finally we saw the pale yellow bay on the other side of the grove of trees ahead. We proceeded forward and came out into the great open, the lake directly to our left, inviting us to bask in its glory.
We walked along the shore for a few more minutes and came through the various obstacles that presented themsevles to us such as fallen trees and strange objects littering the ground that looked like neon yellow brains of orangutans and finally came to the nice spot I had spotted from the dam and decided to settle there. I put down my chair and we got out our fishing gear and got our poles assembled and put the worms we had bought from Wal-mart on the hooks and we casted away. The plop of the bobber hitting the surface of the water invaded the silence momentarily but served to acknowledge how truly still and calm Lake Hillsdale is. We sat and talked in intoxicated sobriety as we watched our bobbers sitting in the water motionless waiting for them to take a small dip and inform us of a pull from deep in the water. Nothing came. But I didnt care. Because we were in the grand stillness of the eternity nature brings to us free of all the cares and concerns and worries and fears and just out there with the way God meant it to be acknowledging all the freedom and love of the world that was all around. We talked about great things and passed other moments in silence as they came, yet all was great. I walked down the shore a bit after an hour or so of nonactivity and tried casting in random areas to see if my luck would change. At that moment I took out my A-key Hohner Harmonica and began to play the songs that I informed Erik were passed down from generations and generations of fishermen and were known to summon fish from the depths of the waters to find the fresh and tasty treat waiting for them at the top. I played my song, let the last note ring out, looked to my left where Erik stood 100 yards away, and saw that at the moment the song ended his pole began to curve and he began to frantically reel and soon he had a nice blue gill on the end of his line. The song worked magically. He held it up with a big smile on his face and I flashed him a thumbs up. I soon came back to rejoin him and cast out alongside him. Within moments, I felt a tug I had not felt in so long and I felt an excitement rush over my limbs and consume my body as I lost control and began to reel in the bad boy on the other side. I pulled him in and found it to be a blue gill a bit smaller than Eriks. It was hooked perfectly right through the would-be-cheek and so I grabbed the fish with my hands pulled it out and set him back in the water and watched him swim away back to new beginnings. I caught another within 2 minutes and after I set him free I saw Erik pulling something heavy in. His pole was really bending. 20 feet from the shore a fish jumped attached to the end of his line and came down with a big splash, showing us that it is far larger than the ones we had just hooked. He pulled it in and let out a huge Whooopeeee as he realized that he had just brought in his first catfish of his young and prosperous fishing career. I grabbed the net and put it under and got the catfish in it and after our excitement toned down we stopped in silence and realized the fish was making a strange burping like noise. We both laughed and I took a picture of his great capture. Then he unhooked it and we saw it swim back into the lake. Just moments later, I felt a big tug on my line. I yanked up and realized I had something. I reeled in and it was barely moving and I figured I had caught the bottom of the lake like I had already done multiple times. But something was different- there was a pull. I began to pull in and turn the reel with my right arm and began to feel like I was a grand fisherman from the past days looking for nothing but the freshest catch and letting an excitement roll over me like a cool wind stream as I pull in the unknown wanderer on the other side of the line I hold in my hands. I reeled and reeled and reeled and soon saw the new visitor to my life and realized it was a catfish even bigger than Erik's. I got him in and Erik took my picture with it and I had him instruct me on a good way to unhook it and I did and let him free.
I fished some more and caught a few more blue gills and Erik got a few more catfish and a lone Walleye which was a strange sight for the eyes but quite a unique treat and I finally decided that I need to take a break and just relax and take it all in cause the fish are biting like crazy and there is no stopping and I began to feel a little guilty about the poor little blue gills who have ended up with my hook in their stomachs because of their propensity to swallow it to a depth that I cannot get the hook out of. So I walked over to the spot I had gone to before and found a rock that was waiting perfectly for me, about 6 inches off the ground, inviting me to meditate upon it. It was a fantastic day with cool winds and nice clouds and I realized that my clothes were a great barrier to feeling the entirety of the great moment around me. So I shedded everything I was wearing except my old Family Guy boxers and felt the wind upon my bare skin and felt free. I sat on the rock and looked out for quite some time, breathing in my surroundings and gaining a new and much needed perspective of God's grand presence in the world around and the fantastic declarations of nature's grandeur that I had not seen nor acknowledged to their fullness in far too long. Focused and centered on my breath I took out my journal and began to write. And now I will leave you with the journal entry I wrote in that spot.
"10/don't know
Fishing with Erik. Caught at least 7, including
a big catfish. Threw all back. Some had
hooks stuck in deep. Feel a little guilty,
harming God's creatures.
I feel offly free. I have taken a slight break from fishing and walked over 100 yards from Erik down the rocky bay with only my journal my pen and the clothes on my back. That all seemed like too much so I took off all my clothes except for my boxers and I now sit on a perfect rock in the quarter lotus posture with my back straight and feeling deeply comfortable and deeply present. The cool wind is upon me and my bare skin informs me it is not to be blocked away but rather embraced. Slight waves in the murky lake water come into the shore inches in front of my position and contact the rocks with a gentle sound of rolling water coming in at short but distant intervals. A boat just passed so the waves come in larger each second caused by the motor powering through it. It is a cloudy day, we have had only brief moments of sunlight as the great star's rays have punctured through the grey veil between it and the earth and bathed God's creatures in their warmth. A boat is about to pass and I care not that I am mostly naked. It could be a good tip for them to show that our convictions about clothes and their necessity are only blockades from the purest flowing core of our being we can come in contact with. The horizon line to the East is a road over a great dam and every so often a car rolls by with occupants ready to undergo the next adventure life brings them; to the west is the rocky shore bending around the odd and sharp turns of the lake edge complete with dense trees showing off their beauty brought on by the early stages of fall. Green is the dominant color when the gaze is cast upon the trees but it is accentuated and revealed more deeply by the fantastically random arrays of dark yellow and rich auburn and bright orange. The trees are at peace, they speak to those lucky enough to come into contact with them. The moment becomes entirely still and the only sounds are the magnificent interplay of distant birds calling, cicadas buzzing, fish jumping and woodpeckers rapidly pecking into the thick bark of nature's most spectacular trees. And I sit on the rock of eternity in the midst of it all, fusing myself with its lavishness and feeling the wind upon my skin. A tree limb falls and reminds me of the impermanence of life which instructs me to take a deep and focused breath to acknowledge the great place I have come to and the amazingly fortunate circumstances that have brought me to this space. God is in the air around; his power and magnitude is to be acknowledged, soaked in, embraced, and appreciated. All is one; all is love.
(and the poem that soon followed)
Come to the senses!
for Revelation
new communication
with the void,
see yourself
floating
swimming
rising
new lands
approaching
inviting
calling.
The fawn
flies with the nightingale
Earth's surface
crusted
penetrable
sink.
shine
with wisdom
feel the land
hear the sounds
call out.
