Going to the Post Office is evidence that I got something done,
so I always reward myself by doing things like taking the one way road
on the way home. There is a place toward the bottom where the road levels
off and there is parking. I always see cars parked, so I figured
there must be something interesting there. It was clear, warm and a good
day to stop and see what was there. I pull off near a narrow path that
leads over a mound of earth. A couple of people are taking a wider
path that leads down the hill, but this one looked more interesting. Once
I was over the hill the trail led through a gradually downward sloping
field of brush and wild flowers. The heat has brought sand gnats out, in
swarms, around my face. I have to keep wiping my face off with my shirt
and running my hands though my hair to rid myself of the bugs. They are
every where. Finally the path gets steeper, the brush ends and the gnats
end with it. The path keeps getting steeper and steeper. I look up and
I look down and I realize I am actually climbing down the side of this
cliff. So I think, well, I really don't want to go any further down, but
I look up and think that the trip back up looks just as difficult as the
trip down. I can see there is a small empty beach below. This is not were
any of the people in the parked cars were going. I know that above me is
a field of gnats waiting to crawl all over my face. I have a footing on
the side of this cliff and I'm standing here thinking: why did I do this
by myself, why am I climbing wearing sneakers and why is it so close to
dinner time.