Ya'll are smarter than me so you probably know all about this but it is new to me. I have some friends in their early 60's who just walked the Camino and said it was a great time. Just to enlighten you, it is a 500 (one of the options) mile walk across Spain! Yep! FIVE HUNDRED MILES. It took them 30 days and it is known as a spiritual journey. I think most folks today see it as a wonderful site seeing opportunity, but I may be wrong. Anyway, I just watched a video which discouraged me more than it sold me on the idea. If you have walked the Camino please tell me what your experience was by emailing me at gary@thepioneerman.com.
I still have not walked the Camino but I have walked a lot of the Osage. I suppose it is not so easy today with folks worrying about strangers walking across their land but the Osage has a lot to offer. I use to hunt and fish all up and down Beaver Creek and my favorite parts were looking for Indian arrow heads and skipping rocks across the water plus seining for minnows. I never ran out of things to do on the creek as it was filled with treasures. In the fall the cotton woods were bright yellow and in the spring bright green and shimmering in the sun. The animals gave up their locations if you would stay still and listen and not move. The quiet times on the creek were not just thinking times but discovery of sounds and textures and light and shadows. Owls to hawks to red birds to quail or just the rustling of the leaves and grass as a critter moved along created a delight in my spirit. It was not uncommon to see big red squirrels or a raccoon and of course beaver doing their daily chores.
Add a fishing pole and a nap on the banks of the creek and you could see heaven and at least you knew that it was not created by a BIG BANG. Laying on the creek in the hot summer was a delight because the gravel and soil you laid on was cool and generally there was a gentle breeze on the creek. The big winds could not get down to the creek which was protected by high dirt banks or rock ledges. It is funny how now looking back it seems gross that I drank from the creek and never got sick but that water was cool and fresh and clear from the springs up the creek. And yes, the cows and other animals shared that same water.
Tall grass for miles and rolling hills to creeks and valleys to the water falls at Shidler and the Salt Creek rock ledges and limestone filled with fossils and a history of cowboys and Indians and settlers and trees 100 feet tall along the waters edge make the Osage ever bit as good as any place in the world.
So what do you learn in the Osage?
I still have not walked the Camino but I have walked a lot of the Osage. I suppose it is not so easy today with folks worrying about strangers walking across their land but the Osage has a lot to offer. I use to hunt and fish all up and down Beaver Creek and my favorite parts were looking for Indian arrow heads and skipping rocks across the water plus seining for minnows. I never ran out of things to do on the creek as it was filled with treasures. In the fall the cotton woods were bright yellow and in the spring bright green and shimmering in the sun. The animals gave up their locations if you would stay still and listen and not move. The quiet times on the creek were not just thinking times but discovery of sounds and textures and light and shadows. Owls to hawks to red birds to quail or just the rustling of the leaves and grass as a critter moved along created a delight in my spirit. It was not uncommon to see big red squirrels or a raccoon and of course beaver doing their daily chores.
Add a fishing pole and a nap on the banks of the creek and you could see heaven and at least you knew that it was not created by a BIG BANG. Laying on the creek in the hot summer was a delight because the gravel and soil you laid on was cool and generally there was a gentle breeze on the creek. The big winds could not get down to the creek which was protected by high dirt banks or rock ledges. It is funny how now looking back it seems gross that I drank from the creek and never got sick but that water was cool and fresh and clear from the springs up the creek. And yes, the cows and other animals shared that same water.
Tall grass for miles and rolling hills to creeks and valleys to the water falls at Shidler and the Salt Creek rock ledges and limestone filled with fossils and a history of cowboys and Indians and settlers and trees 100 feet tall along the waters edge make the Osage ever bit as good as any place in the world.
So what do you learn in the Osage?
- be quiet and listen and you might hear the voice of God
- you can't beat a day in the Osage on Beaver Creek
- Walking the Camino or walking the Osage builds character
I love talking to you.
Thanks for listening,
gary@thepioneerman.com
3 comments:
Gary, possibly your BEST EVER! I thoroughly enjoyed...savored...every line! Each one reading this will surely relive parts of their childhood in the Osage!
Gary, I read it again, and again I will repeat my comment and compliment above. Well Written!
U r very kind, tks
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