Amy Nordby

Field Essay

Billingsly

            As I opened my eyes, I saw him lying there, still sleeping exploring his deepest dreams. The brisk morning air seeped through the rusted screen in the window of our motel room as the sun was rising over the cliffs. I leaned over and gave him a kiss on his cheek to wake him. He opened his eyes slowly and looked over at me and smiled. As he stoked the side of my face, he whispered to me, “This is paradise.” Lying there, we could hear the water rushing all around us, we decided to put on our clothes and go for a morning hike.

            We took off down the path covered in moss and tiny pink flowers. Off to the side of the path were endless trees and a flowing river cohabitating together to make one beautiful piece of art. The open air has a bracing effect on the mind. The congestion of the city, the intolerable noise of traffic, the daily routine, all these are forgotten and the mind is at liberty.

After a while, we reached a turquoise blue brook, our path would run right alongside the water. Down the brook a ways, we came to a deep water hole where the fish danced in the swirling current. I noticed the brook was flowing a little faster now, giving us a dizzying sensation of vertigo. I could hear the steady rushing noise of the water falling from the cliffs that lay ahead. We walked to the cliff’s edge to look over the vast prehistoric valley of rolling hills and rock. To the sides of the waterfall were moss-covered boulders, ferns, and other green plants, growing from the crevices of the cliffs.

            The massive vines weaved their way down from the trees that towered from the tops of the rocks. We decided to take off and climb down towards the river. Following the trail, we lost sight of the waterfall for most of the time it took to climb down. As we neared the bottom, huge granite monsters at the edge of our trail blocked our view of it. As the waterfall became visible, it was beautiful. Our power of observation is sharpened; nothing escapes our eyes. A mouse peeping out of its hole, a squirrel leaping about on the branches of a tree, cranes flying past us, all these are noticed and arouse our interest. We have no worries, no fear of the examination, and no anxiety about the home task. We have got leisure to stand, to walk and talk.

            From the bottom, we could feel vapors rising from where the falls bubbled into the pool of water. We could see a rainbow that was made just for us. We walked across to the other bank were we found a faint trail that led to the rocks near the waterfall. We followed it until it ended; it wasn’t quite underneath but very close. We felt the ice cold mist on our faces which made our muscles tense as it took over our bodies. The light in his eyes told me he was enjoying every moment just as I was. The sounds of campus life had faded; in its place was the chirping of birds, leaves falling off trees, and the bellows of nearby cows.

            We walked back to the bank and sat down. As we watched the water falling from the cliffs, we reminisced and talked about the future. This beautiful day seemed to drift away after a while to make room for a storm. Before we knew it, it began pouring rain. The cold bitter air snapped at my skin. I had experienced a whirlwind of impressions. As we headed back up the cliff, he reached back to ease my struggle with the climb. As he held out his hand I could feel every muscle in his body working to lift me up. Once we reached the top, we decided to go to the edge and look over one last time. The landscape had changed and was different from what we had seen in the morning. The mist was hazier, darker, but the greenery was even more illuminated, almost glowing.

            As we continued our hike, we passed the place where the deep water hole lay in the brook. The fish were no longer there dancing in the water. They weren't there at all. It was if they had swam underneath the cliffs to reach cover from the storm. The trees and plants were covered with tiny droplets of water and the mossy trail saturated made a squishing noise with every step. Soon we were back to our room, the sun no longer out and the air cold and damp. We changed out of our wet clothes and crawled into bed. We laid there for quite some time listening to the rain as we drifted off to sleep. I lay there in the same place I had that morning, wondering what he was dreaming about.