Hurry up and Wait!

                                                      Somewhere in one of the beautiful wild places that are still found in the United States, there are a group of cabins that surround a large main building. This is a luxurious conference hall which contains a bar and restaurant. So there they cater for businesses and other groups which wish to have gatherings, professional development and retreats. As ever in these surroundings there is quiet before the storm, peace before the guests arrive.

        It was the weekend prior to the arrival of the employees of a well-known international company for a business conference and staff retreat. The cabins were spruced and cleaned, the conference hall was immaculate. The lake waters nearby contributed to a large panorama of mountainous natural beauty. The jagged peaks of steep magnificence stood guardians to the waters that were dressed  with a rich growth of redolent reeds, monarchs of the shallows; willows hanging sorrowfully over the banks; ducks and swans bobbing up and down on the ripples occasionally taking to the air with a splash and a quack, a temporary turmoil in the tranquil surroundings. Moose, with cautious deliberation, had been occasionally spotted munching on the sedge in the shallows. There were otters, their sleek bodies slipping over and under with consummate ease, dancing an elegant smoothness through the waters. Dragonflies flitted from place to place, insects floated on the surface of the lake, occasionally a ripple and a bubble indicated a fish rising for a fly. The whole area was a bucolic idyll.

       They came from the airport in shuttles, cabs and limos. The peace was shattered by the opening and shutting of car doors. Hearty handshakes from old friends, tentative early conversations with new acquaintances, luggage unloaded and sorted, a greeting from ‘Mine Host’ and, finally, a return to quietness as the guests diverted to their rooms to unpack and ready themselves for the three days of presentations ahead.

     Among the arrivals was a woman in her thirties, dressed in immaculate business suit. She had the ability to meet and greet while her cell phone was glued to her ear. She was all business all of the time. Her movements were always vigorous; she marched rather than strolled; she fidgeted rather than sat; she listened while checking messages on her phone; she put forward her point of view with force at the seminars; she asked questions with well-informed intelligence; she never seemed to smile; laughter was not in her. She conveyed the message that she was the most important, most serious minded person in the room. And yet there was an air about her which seemed tense and troubled. After three days it was time for everybody to go their separate ways. Farewells were said, transport came and left. But this woman suddenly was paged and told at Reception that her flight had been delayed. The airline would phone back when things were ready but there was no point in heading to the airport as there would be a delay of several hours.

   She was angry, she was frustrated. She was very important, she had essential business that could only be trusted to her, she had clients to see. She spent a lot of time on the phone trying to make other arrangements. She simply had to get back home. She tore her hair at the prospect of a mound of work sitting on her office desk. But, for the foreseeable future, there was no alternative but to stay put. All of the other people had gone their separate ways. There was now just her and the staff left.

   For the duration of her stay, she had attracted the attention of a young employee on the campus. She was a young woman, passionate about the outdoors as befit her job as a wilderness leader. There had been little for her to do during conference time so she spent the time watching the people come and go between conference hall and dining hall. In particular she had noted Erica, let’s call her that, she inwardly and, sometimes outwardly, shook her head at Erica’s inability to relax, her failure to take in the beauty of the natural surroundings was a strange anathema to her. Penny, let’s call the instructor that, noted Erica sat on a bench by her case, yet again immaculate in her suit with her head in her hands, a short fuse away from a volcano of temper and tantrum. Penny shook her head and, without thinking, stood up and walked over to her. She said nothing but put her hand on Erica’s shoulder and indicated that she should follow her. Erica shook her head but there was something about the smile and the insistence of Penny that led her lamblike to walk towards the dock.

There, notwithstanding the business suit and the high heels, Penny flung her a life-jacket and indicated that they should embark on the canoe that was moored to the pontoon. The waters lapped, the sun shone, Erica frowned and shook her head. But Penny was unmoved and eventually they found themselves aboard. They cast off, drifting slowly off on the surface of the lake. Penny was in the stern and noted the aggressive thrashing of the water which was coming from in front of her, all of the pent up anger was being vented on the innocent waters of the still lake. After they had left the dock about 100 yards behind, Erica shipped her paddle and demanded that they return. But a gentle piece of cajolement, the ever present smile, the sense of deep seated wisdom persuaded her to stay. So they paddled on. They steered clear of a couple of swans, keeping protectively close to their young. And the reeds whispered and the willows shimmered and the waters lapped the banks. Ducks appeared in and out of the reeds quacking instructions to their youthful progeny. The canoe thrashed its way around a corner of the lake. Unexpectedly there stood a moose, so ugly it was beautiful, chewing over the meaning of life in the sedge. Erica slowed her paddle to take in the animal and the greenery and the flora and fauna and all of the natural world which neither knew nor cared one jot about the life that she led. Her paddling ceased its impassioned jerkiness, her strokes began to slow, her rhythm started to flow. A grace and a peace settled over the scene. Time stopped, that which had so mattered before was now palely insignificant, ‘a mote to trouble the mind’s eye”*. They had been out for about an hour when Erica turned to Penny and asked if they could return. The mascara clad tears that streaked Erica’s cheeks could not escape Penny’s notice but nothing was said. They returned to the dock, tied the painters, paddle and life jacket were given over. Out of the blue Penny was surprised to be hugged. It was the hardest of hugs, it was the longest of hugs, it was the hug of a drowning woman clinging on for dear life.

     Penny stood on the dock and watched as Erica walked slowly away, sauntered over to the Uber driver and asked if he was for her, nodded and smiled when he said he was, watched as he put her case in the trunk, stood for a moment at the passenger side door and looked around her, taking in the scene. Finally she waved and smiled at Penny and was gone.

    I don’t know where and when I heard this story, Dear Reader, but I do know that I was profoundly moved by it. It has always struck me as something I need to revisit when ‘the world is too much with us, late and soon’. The reason that I relate it to you now is because I recently heard the following quotation from Standing Bear:-

“Man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.”

Until the next time, Friends.

*”A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye.” Hamlet Act I, Scene vi William Shakespeare.