Mr. Peeps!

This story is almost a year old.

I wanted to write about it before now but just never got around to it. I think the new life that spring bring to us inspired me to put this story together.

Until August of last year, Lisa and I had our camper at Dummers Beach in weld Maine. Our seasonal site was along the brook that led into the pond. It was a great location as we could sit at our lot and had direct access to the brook that slowly flowed by. My chair was often feet from the brook.

When I first saw Mr. Peeps he was with his mother and little brother. No, I don’t know for sure either of them were boys but it’s my story, so I get to decide.

I knew Mr. Peeps and could always pick him out of a ducky crowd because unlike other ducks he had a small white patch on the side of his head.

I was never close enough to be able to see what it was, but it was how I identified him. That and he was also ALWAYS peeping, Peep, Peep, Peep!

Not only was he always last in the line of ducks with mom and brother leading him, he seemed to be always falling behind. A fact that only increased the peeping that came from Mr. Peeps.

The brook we camped by was a great place for a mama ducks to raise their ducklings. There must have been 5 or 6 families swimming up and down the brook each day. Some with up to 4 or 5 ducklings.

They grew fast as the weeks went on, but nothing changed. Our brook was full of duck families and one was always Mr. Peeps and his mom and brother.

When we would arrive at the camper from being away, I would always check out the brook and see who was there. By early July the Ducklings were about half the size of their momma’s.

We had been gone on a camping trip to Lubec Maine for a long weekend. When we got back to the camper something was different. The duck families were doing their usual swimming up and down the brook, but this time Mr. Peeps was alone? No mom? No brother? Mr. Peeps just went up and down the brook loudly peeping, in my mind, looking for his family. A family who clearly was not there.

As I watched Mr. peeps for the next couple of weeks he would try to merge in with one of the other families but unfortunately none would have him. They would always scurry off leaving him alone, peeping loudly as they left him behind.

Mr. Peeps never stopped peeping but finally gave up on trying to find a new family to join.

The last time I saw Mr. Peeps he was the size of an adult duck. He was still swimming up and down the stream and he was still peeping, only now it was a quack, an adult quack.

Although he never found that surrogate family, I knew he was going to be alright. He had grown into a full-size duck and with all indications was healthy.

I do not know what happen to mom and brother. It’s a wild area and I have my suspicions, but I cannot be sure.

Depending on your outlook on life, this story is either a terrible tale about of the cruelty of life and the pain it can bring. Its about lose, loneliness, and the worst of what can happen in life.

OR

It is the story of triumph and the strong desire to survive of a little duck. A duck that beat the odds and survived to become an adult.

I choose to believe in the triumph and strong desire to live angle.

I hope this spring he has a family of his own and he teaches them how to .............PEEP !

Why?

 And that's why !

“I read about this waterfall on the stream that runs by the cabin. There is no path to it. We can drive to within a mile of the falls and then hike the rest of the way. It’s only a mile into the falls, you want to see if we can find it!” I asked knowing what the answer would be  “Sure!” she said without hesitation.

Fast forward 2 hours and we are deep into some of the toughest terrain we have ever hiked .  The ground was steep and rocky. There was no trail and I was trying to pick my way along the best I could.  We would go through areas so thick you just had to lean forward and push the small trees out of the way. Then we would be on a hillside so steep we could barely stand up. By all accounts it was miserable hiking. 

Now I am 6 foot 2 inches tall and Lisa is 5 foot 2 inches tall. I always have to remember her legs are about half as long as mine as we do any hiking. I had to make sure I was taking it slow so she could keep up.

Every so often I would say “You making it?”     All I would hear coming from a few feet behind was a labored voice saying “YUP” as cheerfully as she could muster. 

I knew this was hard on us both, we are not young anymore and even at 25 this would have been a challenge, but on we trudged. GPS in hand and end goal plotted.

I remember thinking to myself “boy this waterfall better be good” as we slowly worked up and down the side of the mountain trying to reach our destination.

When we finally got there my heart sank as I pushed through the thick alders and could see the falls.

 It was MUCH smaller than I thought.  CRAP! I thought!! 

 Lisa made it through the alders and looked at the falls.

 I waited for what seemed like minutes for the “REALLY!” this is what I killed myself to get to?? I have new bruises and scratches and I took a chunk out of my leg and I’m bleeding, FOR THIS ??? ” and she would have been right and justified for her frustration.

But although all of that was true, and she was bleeding. She looked at the falls and said, “Isn’t that pretty!”   

THAT is exactly why I love her so much!  She always sees the best in every situation. Instead of focusing on the nightmare we went through to get there ( and what we needed to go BACK through to get back to the truck) she saw the beauty of the moment and sat on the rocks to soak it in.

How I got so lucky I will never know!

 The Lake

As I look over, I can see her hand tightly gripping the door handle. She literally has a white-knuckle grip on the door.  We just slid about a foot to the left as we try to make our way up the steep trail . A trail that was a gravel road and is now covered with snow and the snow is getting deeper as we drive on. I can see her body is very tense and she is not liking life right now.  

Don’t worry as soon as I can find a spot I’ll turn around. As I look over there is both relief and an immediate easing of the tension that she was feeling. Like the flip of a light switch my announcement that the journey was over was welcomed!

Let’s go back 6 hours to earlier in the day.  As we drink coffee and I watch the local news another day of stress is starting to build , another day in a long string of days that seem to be building more intense as each day ticks by “ Open our state your killing it !”     “Stay at home, Stop being selfish!”      “How can you be so careless as to want more people to die “  “ How can you not see businesses and families are going to be ruined “

Each side is right! Each side is  wrong ! There is no easy answer and it is getting uglier every day!

We need to get away for the day!  No news! No Facebook!  No arguing with some and defending with others! Just me and you alone with Sirius Radio (which has no local news!)  

Let’s head north and see if we can get to the lake! I said.  When I say "the lake" I don’t even need to say the name, she knows what I am talking about,  it’s my favorite place on earth and I haven’t seen it since May of last year!

Great idea lisa said with a smile!

We loaded her new Jeep and off we went. 

I forgot my Phone! she announced a short ways up our road! Great!! I said with clear annoyance in my voice. I swung into a driveway and headed back. We both were stressed and working hard not to lash out at the other.

Finally, we were on our way. The more we drove the more relaxed we became. By our first coffee stop in Norridgewock I could feel the stress beginning to wane. An hour later we hit Dover Foxcroft and I was reaching a level of calm I have not felt in weeks.  By the town of Milo, I am feeling great as I am nearing the final leg in our journey.

We had been on the road almost 3 hours when we turned off the pavement and onto the gravel road.  WOW the road looks great! I can’t believe how dry it is and NO snow!! 

To be successful we must make it 21 miles down the dirt road. Hope grows as I think maybe, just maybe we can make it all the way there today, but first 21 miles of dirt logging roads with any number of obstacles that may halt our journey must be navigated.

I cannot explain what this area means to me. I am not sure I completely understand it myself.  I have been coming here since I was a young. I may have been 10 or 12 years old when I made my first trip. I don’t really recall the exact year, but I have loved this place ever since.

Its deep in the middle of what most folks would call “nowhere”! 

No one lives there and many of my trips to the area are void of another person for the entire stay. 

I can’t explain the calm and peace I feel while I am there. The world disappears and the stress of life fades away like the setting sun. 

 I truly feel that I am "who I am meant to be", while I am within the boundaries of this area. It has called me back for over 40 years and I don’t see how that will ever end until I can no longer make the trip.

At about 10 miles in the snow starts to make its appearance along the sides of the road. We are going deeper into the woods and higher in elevation.   By the time we hit mile 15 the road is about 75% covered with snow and what isn’t snow is mud.

By mile 18, only three miles from my destination, I am driving the jeep (Lisa’s brand new Jeep Renegade with less than 1000 miles) up a road that, in reality, is still a snowmobile trail as it is completely covered with snow. Snow that is getting thicker with every mile. We have gone through mud holes, washouts and deep ruts to get to this point.

Fast forward to the beginning of this story and turn around we did.  

 I could not make it to the lake, but we got close!  Close enough to ease the stress and tensions of the past month and all the world has thrust upon us. 

Close enough to remind me of who I am and what truly is important.   There is so much in the world I cannot control. So much I have no impact on nor can I change the outcome. 

What I can do is plan my next attempt to get there! 

My next trip I will make it!  I am sure of it!  

THAT I can have an impact on! That I can focus on and put effort into.   And that is exactly what I plan to do.

I will get there soon!

The Missed Sunset !!

Let’s go up to Height of the land in Rangeley and watch the sunset, I said as we walked through Walmart.  It’s a beautiful sun filled day and we need to get out of the house!  Sure, lisa said. 

We finished our shopping and drove home to put stuff away before we headed north. 

As we drove there, which takes about an hour, my cloud free sky started to darken on the horizon.   LOOK!! I said, clouds are coming in!   You watch and see if by the time we get there the sunset will be hidden! I sputtered in disgust!

So, on we drove and the closer we got the thicker the clouds got on the horizon and started moving across the sky. In my usual way I started fussing before we even got there. “Yup gonna drive all this way and end up with NO SUNSET!  I murmured and fussed the last couple miles as my prediction came true, The sun was gone behind the clouds never to return this day .

Lisa never said a word as we neared the look out. As we sat there clearly NOT getting a sunset,  I went on and fussed more about things not going my way and wasting time, should have stayed home!  First time trying to get a sunset and NOOOOO mother nature has to throw us a curve ball and ruin MY plans!!

So, what about Lisa? She did what she always does. She saw the beauty in life! 

While I ranted and raved about the unfair situation and wasted time and gas, she went about the situation like she goes about life. 

She took out her camera and began to take pictures, after each one she showed me the beauty of what she had seen and the pictures she had taken. 

She brings to my world the joys and beauty I would miss if she was not in my life ! She quietly and patiently brings joy to my life when I seemingly do everything I can to avoid it and try not to see it.

She completes me and makes me so much better than I would be without her! She "is" the beauty in my life and she makes sure I don't miss the beauty around me! No matter how hard I try !

Here is a the picture she took and the beauty SHE did not need anyone to show her!