Empty Bench
A weather-bleached bench on a windblown bluff, lone icon facing the infinite Pacific horizon. A wobbly wooden bench, hidden under a copse of trees on an unnamed trail, looking across the Golden Gate toward the San Francisco skyline. A new plastic bench sitting primly in its place along a small pond off a forest trail, waiting for someone. Benches are an invitation to sit, to look, perhaps to chat with a companion. They stir the imagination when they sit unoccupied. I see an empty bench and remember people who are gone. I’ve lost several loved ones in recent years, and have come to sense their absence as a group. I imagine them floating together somewhere in the ether, and yet I feel their spirits here. Next time I find a welcoming bench, I will invite the essence of those loved ones to sit with me for a while, and remember. This week’s Hike Notes, Windy Hill-Hamms Gulch and Spring Ridge Trails, takes readers on the descending leg of a loop hike in the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, these trails highlighted by leafy shadows and tree tunnels that lure walkers onward. Check the Home page for the broader background story. Click Insights/Hike Update News for inspiring reflections. Browse hikes on the main Hikes page or on the Hike Search by Area page, and scroll to the bottom of each hike page to see full photo galleries. If you’d like to support HikingAutism, check out the Support/Shop page! Check out selected articles and interviews under Media. Click World Walks to see or share favorite family-friendly walks! Stay in touch with Lisa Louis and HikingAutism via Contact. The Links page lists a loose collection of helpful information links. Feel free to share and follow on Facebook at HikingAutism, follow on Twitter at @HikingAutism and Instagram at lisalouis777 New this week: Hike Notes 198: Windy Hill-Hamms Gulch and Spring Ridge Trails
2 Comments
2/25/2024 08:07:43 am
This is lovely, Lisa. Plaintive. Evocative. Achingly beautiful. The empty bench as the medium, the familiar, the moderator - the architect of these wished and hoped for communions. You have written this beautifully. Brava!
Reply
2/25/2024 09:45:08 am
Thank you for your kind words, John. I know from your own work on The Renaissance Garden Guy that you are familiar with the heartache an empty bench can stir.
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Lisa LouisSharing insights and hiking highlights (Hikes, Hike Search by Area) from the special needs caregiver front in San Francisco. Archives
February 2025
Categories |