by Deb Longley

Created on: April 18, 2008

On the Subject of Tall Trees and Banana Slugs

The baby walks ahead, as she always does. I can't stop that. Her noisy little feet are silent no as she steps on a layer of soft redwood leaves, probably a foot thick. She is close to the ground and the earthy smell that rises up to my nose is even stronger in hers.

"I love this forest, Mama" she says without turning around. "It smells good." She is not yet three, but she sees everything.

I wish she would hold my hand because the downslope is very steep on the left side of the trail.

We have walked the first mile of three and she is doing just fine. She is so strong and she is enjoying her freedom. One of our companions, a red-headed freckled-faced eleven year-old is leading the way. As long as she can see that flash of red on the trail ahead of her, she is confident to march on.

The trees are so tall and she looks up often to amaze herself again and again. She sees every spider and banana slug along the way. She slaps at the mosquitoes just like the rest of us, though she is far less annoyed. She was born in the city, but she comes alive in the forest. She loves it in the rain and mist, she is not afraid in the dark, she loves it now in the heat of the day. She climbs into every hollow-bottomed burned-out tree we pass, announcing "We could live here, Mama!" Every tree, it seems, is a potential home.

Mile two, and still going strong. She still won't take my hand. In fact, she wants to catch up with Dennis, our red-headed friend. It's not about the spiders and slugs anymore. It's about competition and comradeship. She wants to hang with the big guy. So there they are, hand in hand, Dennis on the left to keep her safe from the edge, talking together about living in a tree.

Mile three, end of the loop. She is collapsed in my arms, snoring up that forest air which still, no doubt, fires up dreams of cozy beds and steaming cups of hot chocolate inside a big Mama Tree where she sleeps with spiders and banana slugs and her family all around her.

I know just how she feels, because I have forest dreams too.

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