April 25, 2021

Sentimental types, like me, sometimes have internal struggles with change.  It takes time to adjust and find the good in the new shift.  For over eight years I’ve hiked the trails of Avalon Nature Preserve with hundreds of kids.  One of my lessons is teaching about trail markers and blazes.  The marker is always a place of gathering and waiting for others. But recently those old markers have been replaced by updated shiny markers forcing me to accept and adapt to the change.

I came upon a few of the “old” trail markers which caused me to pause and honor these sturdy beams of wood. They represented a changing of the guard, a replacement of something that had seen hundreds of sunrises and sunsets.  Those markers had been snowed upon, relied upon and worn well over the years they stood tall and guided at Avalon.  No longer upright,  they were  now resting  among the plants, tired and relaxed.  No need to guide any longer.  

Of course I am anthropomorphizing the large wooden posts that were stuck in the ground but the retirement of the posts is bittersweet. Recognizing it is an homage to something which holds multitudes of memories for me and the Seedlings families. 

As adults we readjust and look forward while still remembering the things that taught us and hold meaning in our lives.  Rest well trail markers.