Tag(s): ; ; ; ; ; ; ; , Add Tags
Add to My Group(s)

View Ratings | Rate It

Permalink
View Article Stats      (5 comments)

Giants of the Bushveld

Add this Page to Facebook!
Submit to Twitter
Submit to Reddit
Submit to Stumble Upon

Tell A Friend

Become a Fan
Get Embed HTML Code
By (about the author)

Become a Fan Become a Fan   -- Page 5 of 5 page(s)

opednews.com

 

                                                              * * * * * * *

 

The morning unfolded as delicately as a lily, offering soft blue skies and a gentle breeze.  The air smelled sweet and fresh and he could sense that it was going to be a good day.  He set out for his morning walk as his wife prepared breakfast, the usual path, his favorite, that he had walked since boyhood.  The morning was filled with birdsong and all the familiar animal grunts and calls.  In the distance, he could hear the trumpeting of an elephant.  Perhaps the little female leopard had come too close.  The sun felt good on his back, like a cloak of warm feathers.  He walked a mile or so with his stick, making jags and circles and sweeps in the dust.

 

As he did each day and would continue to do for all the rest, he made his way to the ancient baobab, his favorite tree.  It had been a good friend to him when the days were long and sweltering or his back sorely needed a firm trunk to support him.  It had been a place of shade and drink and many, many dreams.  He crouched down and set his stick to the earth.  He propped his back against the baobab’s trunk.  He inhaled deeply, let it go, and looked up.  Through its gnarls and knots he saw birds fly overhead, saw spokes of sun dance through the limbs.  A lourie flew in and perched above him making its usual squawks and shrill calls.  “Go away, bird,” he puffed, “this is my tree.”  But the lourie knew better and sat still and silent.

 

He closed his eyes.  His tree felt good.  She had never felt better.  

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5

 

A native Californian, Jan Baumgartner is a writer and book editor dividing her time between Maine, Mexico, and California. Her essays on Mexico are included in two anthologies, Solamente en San Miguel Volume II (Parroquia Press, November 2010) (more...)
 

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.

Contact Author Contact Editor View Authors' Articles

 

Share this page: (what's this?)                   Tell a Friend: Tell A Friend

Add this Page to Facebook!      Submit to Stumble Upon      Submit to Reddit      Add This Page to Mr Wong!           NEWSVINE      DEl.ICIO.US      Looksmart Furl      My Web      Blink List     (More...)

Comments

The time limit for entering new comments on this article has expired.

This limit can be removed. Our paid membership program is designed to give you many benefits, such as removing this time limit. To learn more, please click here.

Comments: Expand   Shrink   Hide  
5 comments
To view all comments:
Expand Comments
(Or you can set your preferences to show all comments, always)

All things connected... by Georgianne Nienaber on Saturday, Feb 9, 2008 at 5:27:42 PM
Thanks, Georgianne by Jan Baumgartner on Saturday, Feb 9, 2008 at 5:43:29 PM
What a journey/made my morning by davy on Monday, Feb 11, 2008 at 3:54:45 AM
Thank you, Rusty by Jan Baumgartner on Monday, Feb 11, 2008 at 2:16:50 PM
Who we really are.... by James Callner on Monday, Feb 11, 2008 at 4:10:54 AM