June 5, 2010

June 5, 2010

How do I start telling you about this day? How do I describe it? I wish I was more artful with my words so I could tell you of this day with the credit it deserves.
The bad parts of the day were Andrea was not here to enjoy it with me. It was the type of thing Andrea would have loved and I am disappointed Andrea and I didn’t get a chance to do it while she was here. She always loved when I would agree to go for a hike in Arizona and here I am in the Czech Republic and I think I went on the longest hike of my life. I was telling you in yesterday’s post that I was going to do it, but even as I wrote those words I figured I would make some excuse for not doing it. However, I did do the hike I talked about, all eight kilometers of it. I am not sure exactly how it translates to miles, but I believe it is about six miles.

The hike was through what they here in the Czech Republic call the Chlum Wood and it was unbelievable. Nearly the entire hike was shaded and there really aren’t any points where you have to hike steeply upward, but it is a steady incline to the highest point of the hike. As I walked toward the hike, which was about a kilometer from the city of Novy Bydzov, all I could think of was that I felt like Henry David Thoreau walking into the deep wilderness, into deep isolation to compose a masterpiece. Besides not having Andrea with me, forgetting to bring a pen and a pad of paper to write, was another deep regret. This environment was so inspiring I think the least talented man in the world could compose a work of beauty. I know now why it was that Thoreau carried with him the thoughts he did about engrossing himself in nature and isolation to find pure inspiration. The amount of times I wished I could have sat down and wrote is countless. I might just find myself taking this hike again, simply to do some writing.

Anyway, let me get away from the complaints of what I didn’t have on this hike and try with the best of my abilities to tell about the beauty I found. The hike begins along the roadside, the major road between my city and Hradec. At that point I wasn’t too impressed with the hike although the view to my right of rolling fields was breathtaking. The amount of cars whizzing past me on my left did detract some of the tranquility, but those cars were to be soon left behind. After about a mile I found myself verging away from the road and into the woods. At that point I realized I should have worn the boots I have here; there were many parts of the trail, which were still puddles of water from the week of rain, my shoes got filthy, the bottom of my pants were caked with mud. As I moved further and further into the woods the sounds of modern technology, the cars, drifted away as if they had been nothing more than a fleeting dream Henry Ford had had and let slip away. I know it wasn’t Ford who invented the car. He was only the man who discovered how to mass produce them. It was as though I was transplanted to a time of simplicity and unfathomable calmness.
(I have really fallen off my plan of writing every day. I have slipped over this past weekend. I was writing my entry for Saturday, the day I took the hike into the woods on Saturday night in the Matrix, but I lost my words and confidence. I did not feel I could justify what I had seen with my words and then again on Sunday I still felt I could not express the wonder of what I had seen. I tried, but my words failed me. So, that being wrote. I owe you, the readers, a completion of what I have already written about Saturday and then I need to tell you about my adventures of Sunday, which were definitely worth sharing although they may not compare to that of Saturday.)

Caught in this calmness I had to take a second to realize I was really feeling the feeling I was feeling. It felt to me as though I was the only person within a hundred miles. I felt alone with my thoughts and I felt like it was impossible for anyone or anything to interrupt anything I wished to ponder. Walking into a place of isolation like this is something I recommend to everyone and go by alone. The ability to think freely of your dreams, your past, and your present situations is unhindered by any outside influence, you are able to contemplate any misgivings you may possess and the beauty of the nature surrounding you makes all those troubles seem to shatter. As though the weight of true perfected nature makes you realize the insignificance of any weight, which may be bearing down upon your shoulders. I know my words, advice, and what they will bring you sound like some sort of fantasy because eventually you will have to leave the place of tranquility like I eventually had to. However, to have those moments of reflection on the fleeting nature of our lives as you walk past a single tree, which probably has stood in its very spot longer than even the discovering of the nation me and you now belong gives you an idea of the importance of not allowing yourself to dwell on the mistakes you have made or the problems which have developed in your life. It is easy for me to give this advice as I just experienced this moment of complete reflection on my life, but I do realize I fall into the same pitfalls as any, over analyzing every circumstance, worry about troubles that befall upon me, but I must, nevertheless, impart the wisdom I achieved through this hike and leave it to you to contemplate.

To describe the beauty of this hike with the words I have been blessed with would be an impossibility, it would take a man or woman far more accomplished than myself to even give hint to the beauty hidden away, barely noticed by even the citizens of Novy Bydzov and its surrounding areas, however, I will try to justify what I found and what it did for my soul. (I know that word sounds cheesy, “soul,” but it really did, whether you believe we have souls or not, refresh my soul).

I was away from the road; I was on a path, but a path, which looked if it had barely ever been taken. As I walked through the tall grass I most definitely could tell people had walked where I was walking, but not nearly as often as I would see in the path created in National Parks in the United States. These overgrown paths were another reason I felt as though I was completely isolated. I felt like I was following the path created by man decades ago. In the United States, all the trails I have ever walked, I have not been able to walk for more than ten or fifteen minutes without running into another hiker. Here I felt as though I was completely alone. As I ascended up the path, surrounded on all sides by the perfection of nature, I could not help myself from feeling dizzy with enchantment at the power nature can create within one’s mind, body, and soul. I realize my accounts of this hike sound overly portrayed, but I assure you this was one of those moments I will never forget.
Throughout the rest of hike I simply did as I have already previously mentioned. I soaked up the atmosphere as much as I could and I let my mind wander to all different types of questions, which I could reach conclusions of with clarity as I have never before. I have had times in my life where I have felt transcendent, on the verge of reaching enlightenment, as the Buddhists who explain it, but it was during this walk with all its freshness, all its isolation, and freedom of mind it allowed that I felt as close to peace and harmony as I have ever.

I did run into a few other people along my hike. The first was a cyclist, I ran into him as I was reaching some sort of amphitheater which had been placed in the midst of this wholly natural environment. Neither the cyclist nor the amphitheater took away from the feelings I was in the midst of. The cyclist was gone from my sight, after quick “good day” in Czech, in a matter of a minute and the amphitheater, well it, was as rustic as can get and it was a nice place to sit and rest. So, it was a welcomed site. It was nothing more than four or five wooden benches constructed in a semi-circle with a small wooden building directly in front of the semi-circle of benches. The old wooden structure was so weather torn it seemed as though it had not been in use for years and the benches were decaying. This spot was actually the pinnacle of my hike and I headed back down the hike I discovered a few more people and a few more amazing to my eyes structures.

As I left the amphitheater I noticed on my left of in the trees and the long, over-grown plants and grass, two structures. Each of these structures were identical, but they intrigued me because they we like nothing I had ever seen before. I will not do justice giving you a picture of them, however, I will try. They both were made of wood beside a tin roof. They were pieces of wood crossing each other at the bottom and then reaching their arms up at an angle until they reach the tin roof. Whatever these structures were, it was obvious they had not been used in a while. Furthermore, as I walked through the talk plants to examine these structures closer I noticed out of the corner of my eye a small completely wooden cabin. I had not noticed the cabin when I at first noticed the structure I had walked up to inspect, but it amazed me. To see this cabin come in my view out of nowhere was nothing I could have ever expected. In midst of this entire wilderness to find a place where it looked like a person, maybe persons could live, was astounding. I approached the cabin with caution.

I walked around this cabin, which looked as though it had been constructed sometime in the late 19th century, who am I to say though, it could have been built the week before I found it, from back of it. There were no windows in the rear of the cabin. On the side I walked around no windows either. I approached the front with lightened footsteps. Who was I to say the owner of this ancient-looking, one room, log cabin wasn’t standing in the front of it with a shotgun or rifle of some sort, and he would have yelled out, “Trespasser.” Although, I would not have understood him, I could see myself being shot on the stop. All because my curiosity just couldn’t keep me away. Yes, I know this situation is highly unlikely, but you never know.

In the front of the cabin I found no one. I did find how masterfully crafted this cabin had been. The back, the sides showed no sign of great detail; they were actually of the most simple design. The front told a different story, it was full of great detail. The door to the cabin was nothing less than spectacular. Whoever had taken the time to build this cabin had taken most of it to create this most intricate front. To the right of the door was a window, a window which had been put together with just as much care as the door. As I examined the front of the cabin I noticed something rather particular. The window, while it was not one you would typically think of in the US, was just small wooden hatch, as I have no other way of describing it. It had its hinges on it to one side and to the other I noticed an old iron lock fastening the window shut. This lock looked as though it should be holding shut some pirates hidden treasure. The unusual thing was not the type of window or the lock which held it closed, but rather the fact that there was no lock on the door. I stood there in front of this cabin a good few minutes contemplating whether or not I should open the door to look inside. No one that I knew of was around, it wasn’t like I was going inside to vandalize it or anything, but I still scared myself out of opening the door. I am not sure what made me scared, whether I thought a man would jump out at me or some kind of animal was lurking inside just waiting for someone to open the door so the leap at their face. Regardless, I walked away. I regret not taking a peep inside, but just seeing a cabin like that, which I am doing no justice to was amazing.

From the cabin was my walk out of the forest. I was only caught up by two things on my out, which is beside the pure beauty I saw in every direction I swiveled my head. The first of those sights was rather interesting to me. It may not come across as the most interesting thing, but as I walked along near the end of the trail I found an entire family working together to rake the grass of a field which had been mowed. The reason I found this so spectacular was the entire family had a rake in their hands, from a child who looked no older than nine to the one male and one female teenager to the mother and father. I have never been a witness to something like this, a whole family working together to accomplish this extraordinary task.

The last this I saw was an old farmhouse, which was built in the 1890’s, it was an incredible building, but I really couldn’t get a good look at it. There was shrubbery taller than myself growing all along the fence that kept people from approaching it. The most decent view I got of it was from the front great littered with warnings about cameras and extra security to keep people out. The brochure had made this out to be the pinnacle of the hike, but in comparison to all I had seen in the nature of the hike this just didn’t do it for me.

I realize know I have been rambling on about this hike for way too long. But, it was a great experience for me. And to make the rest of this entry end quickly. I will sum up the rest of my day in one sentence. When I returned from the hike, I went to the Matrix for a bit, I went home took a nap, went back up to the Matrix, that is when I started this entry, I went back home, I watched a movie, and I fell asleep.