Here's a fun writing trick you might like to try. I had an idea that a friend of mine and I would practice writing during the upcoming long, cold, overcast winter. I decided we would take turns suggesting an idea that would be used for a story we each would write. We would then get back together the next week and read each other's story to one another and see just how different the plots would be or if we hit on the same nerve. We usually varied hugely and it was fun to anticipate just how much. If I wrote comically she might write seriously.

 

When it was my friend's turn she emailed me a picture of a carved wooden totem-like structure which she and I were to use in our next story. As you read the story below called 'Namaste" you will see what this statue looked like and wonder perhaps how I got a story like this one out of it. Your guess is as good as mine. 

 

 

Namaste

 

My grandfather lived in the cold mountains of Virginia. His great, great-grandfather, Joshua Tilman, homesteaded on the 1,000 acres back when there was nothing and no one. By the time my grandfather inherited the property, it was mostly tamed. It has a beautiful, freshwater stream that runs through the hills and it flows into a pretty good-sized lake where swimming in the summertime is one of the best memories I treasure.

 

My grandfather died three weeks ago and here I stand under the huge oak that has always been known as the Cemetery Tree because it stands protectively in the midst of the family plot where all of our loved ones reside waiting for the good Lord's return. All the babies that didn't take a breath, my founding ancester and his wife and eleven children, their children, and so forth. It's a good thing we have a lot of land because we have more relatives than you can shake a stick at. I've already reserved my spot next to my father. He meant the world to me. If he was alive right now it would be him who would be looking over this vast and beautiful landscape.

 

 As far as my eye can see in either direction from the cemetery hilltop is land that is mine now. I can see why this spot was picked so long ago. It would have been an excellent place for a home but I guess Joshua knew that he would be resting on this spot for much longer and wanted to be able to see all that he had accomplished in his lifetime as well as watching the goings ons of his loved ones in the future. I understand it now.

 

I used to come up here and play in the Cemetery Tree when I was a kid for the very reason that I could see forever. I could see the whole sunrise and the whole sunset all in one swoop. I'd bring my dog, Taffy. a real beauty of a collie and smart too. It was as if we could read each other's minds. I still miss her but she's here with all the other cherished farm pets. But I have one of her last litter pups who is as gentle as I don't know what. A very sensitive soul. Her name is Blue because of the one blue eye she has that seems to look at the world a little differently than her brown one. That sounds far-fetched I know but it is what it is.

 

It's strange, but twenty years and three weeks ago I was born. Why things happen like this I have no idea. Why did my grandfather die on my birthday? Perhaps one day I'll be able to understand but right now it's puzzling and feels kind of unsettling. Well anyway, being the oldest of four children and a son is the whole reason why I was next in line to inherit. To keep the home fires burning so to speak. I have two younger brothers and one sister. I am going to give each of them some land so they can build something for their families if they choose. One of my brothers wants to be a doctor so I'm not sure about him but maybe he would like a cabin on a piece of heaven, a place to come to in order to breathe and relax. We'll see. Time will tell.

 

Come with me and I'll take you to the main house. But before we go there, let's go to the original cabin. It's right over there. Can you see it? It's that small log cabin you see through the crook of those trees. Joshua built that with his own bare hands with trees felled from his own land. That must have felt good. I'm going to build something too and carry on the skills passed down through our generations. I'm the only one that seems to have this soil truly running through my veins. There is nowhere else I want to be and raise a family.

 

Well, here we are at the cabin. Let's go inside, shall we? As you can see it is very minimal but all the furniture in here was made to be useful. There's nothing extra. Because he had so many children you can understand why he built the table so long and why it takes up most of the room. Well, that's where everyone would eat, you see, sit around and talk, do their studies, work out family problems. It's a lost tradition these days but I want to bring it back. I think it builds strength in a family. I think you lose one another in a big, rambling house.

 

Over there is the hewn mantlepiece from one large tree that almost fell on Joshua. The story goes that he was walking in the north woods hunting for deer when this tree fell out of nowhere and landed not one foot in front of him. It hit the ground so hard that it made him fly in the air and land five feet away. To show who got the last word, he cut this huge mantlepiece from it and the long table and benches. He also made that rocking chair over there in front of the fireplace for his wife to rock their babies.

 

And over there . . . well I know that looks out of place because everything in here is so practical and has a purpose but I have to tell you another story for you to understand.

 

Before my ancester came over here to seek his fortune he grew up in the Swiss Alps. He was used to walking in the rolling hills and doing back-breaking farm work. He had muscles of steel and legs as strong as an ox. He learned ironwork from his grandfather and he learned sheep and cattle farming from him and his father. I don't think there was anything that man didn't know or couldn't do with his hands.

 

He was also restless. He had never been anywhere nor seen anything but the snow-capped mountains and the shadowed valleys of Switzerland. Back in those days, when a boy turned sixteen he was considered a man. His grandfather could see the far-off look his grandson's eye and knew the meaning of it for he had experienced it too when he was a lad. So he gave him leave to see the world before he settled down to raise a family. He gave him the money to board a sailing vessel to the great unknown.

 

Joshua sailed for four years and in all that time he would write his father and grandfather of the wonders of the world. He knew that at the end of his travels that he wanted to go to America and carve out his own destiny. With that in mind, he only brought home with him one large souvenir he had picked up along the way. It was this strange carved statue you see before you. As you can tell it's of a woman dressed in clothes which, at that time, no one had ever seen from a culture that far away. As you see her hands are held in a prayer position in front of her chest yet her eyes are open and she has a smile on her face. Her earrings are of painted gold and her jet black hair is tied up with gold painted cloth. The dress is white, very slim and long. Joshua called her Namaste, meaning "I bow to the divine in you", which is all he'd say in the way of explaining her presence.

 

You may be wondering why he would bring such a thing all the way from his travels home with him. We have never heard that story from Joshua. He would only say that it came from a sacred place he visited and from that point on his eyes were opened.

 

He said he spent the next year being with his family and saying all his goodbyes for he knew he would never set foot in the Alps again. He planned and worked out his passage to America as well as his travels to the Virginia mountains where he could still have a taste of home. Where he could still smell the sweet smell of snow and see the sun over a mountain range.

 

So here I am now and it's my turn to put a mark on this land which I love. Which is in my bones. If you look out this window you will see the rise over there and that big tree, right? That's where I will build my own cabin. Jessie has agreed to marry me and she loves this soil as much as I do. We hope to have at least four children and we'll have some horses, chickens, dogs, a cat or two and maybe some goats. A big garden. Some fruit trees. Getting back to the earth. That's what I want. It's what we want. To dig our souls in and stay rooted and grounded to a place that keeps us anchored. That will keep my whole family anchored. That's all we ever really want, isn't it? To know we belong?

(c)nancy  4.4.2016