Honeymoon Day Two!
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes, 22 secondsHiking to the Falls
You can see why the boys would want to race their bikes down this hill,” I explained to Jan as she and I made it across the road with the steep forty-five-degree incline without difficulty. I found the path and pulled back a branch so it would not hit Jan.
“Twelve-year-old boys only see the excitement, not the risk. I was very fortunate. One of them might have been hurt. God must have been looking out for me.”
“It must have been stressful to be the only one responsible for the trip, but I realize that resources were limited. I am grateful you survived, and we met. I love you.”
As we proceeded on the path, I reflected on my dream that Jan could have joined me on the summer bike trips. If she had been with me, we could have included girls. Having her as a travel companion would have been priceless.
We stopped and looked at the sky-blue lake on our left. The few puffy clouds created shadows on the lake’s calm surface.
“It is as pretty as a picture.”
I concurred with her and asked her to pose so I could take a photo of her framed by the lake and the sky.
Jan, I will always carry this photo in my mind’s eye.
We proceeded slowly due to the rising heat and the overgrown path.
“It is not much further, but if you want to, we can turn around.”
“No, I am OK and want to see the waterfall.”
We proceeded on the path as it twisted and turned to the right.
After a few minutes, we could hear the waterfall.
I moved the branches back and helped Jan over a log that had fallen across the path.
Wow!” Jan said as we came to a clearing at the edge of the crystal-clear pond filled with the falling waters.
“I’m glad you like the waterfall.”
Jan put her right arm around my waist as I pulled her closer with my left arm on her shoulder.
The water was falling from a cliff about sixty feet high. The rocks on the bluff divided the water into a half dozen streams that rejoined by the time they splashed into the pond. When the rushing water reached the pond, it was about five feet wide. The sound of water hitting the pond was like raindrops on a tin roof.
“Bushkill is bigger but a tourist trap, but this waterfall is just for you.”
“I love you!”
After almost 48 years, I recently lost my wife, Jan Lilien. Like The Little Prince, Jan and I believed that “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.” This blog is a collection of my random thoughts on love, grief, life, and all things considered.
What a beautiful love affair-you were lucky to have found each other.
What about this dog bite-were you okay? Did you have to have a shot?
Thanks, Sue, for your comment. Jan and I had a love that I always thought was like everyone else’s. Jan and I had our souls divided at birth, and finding each other allowed us to reunite our souls and have one soul, one love, now and forever.
Regarding the dog bite, I wrote about it in detail in Road Trippin in 1973. The dig bite was severe and could have been worse if I had listened to the hostel manager and accepted her plan to use band-aids.