5 LOST (part of the FIFTY series)
5 Have you ever been lost? Turned around on a trail in the mountains? Stuck in the wilderness overnight? It was 1981. I had been with my Great Grandma, Grandma & Mom camping for four days. We had bellies full of raspberries and small shiny, metal cups full of wildflowers. Great Grandma, Tilly was lying in the sun, Granny and Mom were playing cards. It was time for me to explore. I started down the ravine. I went through the stream where all the raspberries lived. I went through a grove of aspen trees. I navigated through a bunch of old, rotting logs. Suddenly, without notice, I was in a wide open meadow. Flowers, trees, bushes, bees, butterflies, everywhere butterflies. There were tall, wispy grasses throughout the meadow, middle of July grasses. The sun was high in the sky, no clouds in sight. The only sound was the quiet trickle of the stream and the incessant buzz of the bees as they moved from flower to flower. The ground was soggy from the stream, yet the air was hot and dry. The sweet smell of raspberries floated in on the warm summer breeze. Within minutes I was at the end of the open meadow heading back into the woods on the other end.
Wait. Woods? These woods? Those woods? Which way did I come in? Where is the stream? Uhhhh... All of the sudden my heart was in my throat! My mouth was dry yet the back of my neck was starting to drip with sweat, dripping down my back sweat. I glanced down to take a quick inventory: tshirt, shorts, sandals. No water bottle, no compass, no bug spray or sunscreen. I was only going out for a "little walk" after all. I had no plans of going far or for long. I took a deep breath. I immediately felt a wave of sheer PANIC fill my body, cloud my mind. I surveyed my surroundings. Every tree looked exactly the same. Every flower white or yellow, red or blue…My mind was racing. Stop. Breathe. Think.
"Mooooooooooommmmmm!" "MOM!" "Mmmmom!" "MOM!" I sat down in the middle of the meadow and cried. (I was ten.) I was scared. I was a kid lost in the forest. I had no skills to navigate my way out. I had no tools to help me find my way. I had fear and nothing more. I knew nothing about "turning fear into strength". I was ten years old! I didn’t care one ounce about "finding myself”. I just needed to find my mom. I was LOST.
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