Bushwhack

Bushwhack

Oh…the places one could go with that word.  Euphemism for some bedroom behavior?  George W. bashing?  Or, in Monday’s case, literally whacking though the bushes because you're no longer on the trail. 

My son Jackson saw my scratched up legs on Monday night, and questioned me about why they looked like I had lost a fight with a very small velociraptor.  I told him where my friends and I had been, and he offered up the word ‘trail-blazing’.  I think that is a BIT optimistic, implying that someone else should follow in our footsteps.  Nope.  Not quite recommended.  I led a journey across a bee-filled field and into the shady woods, and I didn’t exactly know where I was going. 

Every once in a while (or, sometimes, twice in one week) you make some bad choices that you feel pretty confident about.  A route you once did, in the winter, with a guide, in the dark-ish becomes a GREAT anchor point for a 20 mile run.  Never mind that it’s actually a dumb idea.  As long as you make the decision with confidence, you can also convince others to follow along.  I managed to get Athena and Danielle on this adventure.  We explored some new trails, some un-trails, and got a little beat up. 

But sometimes, it all works out okay!  You get to see chickens, dead snakes, a beautiful gorge, deer bones, a snapping turtle and you sit on a couch made of rocks.  You don’t get stung by a bee.  Sometimes you race a rooster!  Not every dumb idea works out okay.  But some do.  It’s okay to make mistakes.  It’s better if you have supportive friends to help you make your way back to the path.  But the bushwhacking part is part of the journey, too!  Always sticking to established trails may be safe and get you to where you’re supposed to be.  But it doesn’t always get you to where you NEED to be.  

The Real Work, by Wendell Berry

 It may be that when we no longer know what to do

we have come our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go

we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.