It was a cool, balmy day, the kind of afternoon where the echo of the wind through the trees seems to make a haunting melody. Mother Nature was playing a tune that could capture the soul, chill the mind, and soothe the spirit if you listened to the whir of the breeze carefully enough. The currents of autumnal air flowed through the forest, as well as through those long, silky strands of Ginny's long, curly mane. The setting sun, which was as golden as her hair when Gin first set herself down by the shore to reflect and relax, was now a technicolor spectrum of purple, orange and red. The chill caused what, just a few weeks ago, were the green leaves of summer, to fall, adding their splendid addition to what was now the multi-colored carpet of natural foliage.
This was the first time Virginia had visited her family cabin alone. She had left her husband, Bob, to watch over their two girls, so she could grab a much-needed break from the harrowing hours and weary weeks of work as a nurse at Mt. Sinai Hospitalâs pediatric oncology ward. She just needed to get away from the hustling crowd of New York, and there was no better place to get respite, she figured, than in the woods upstate, hundreds of miles from the madding crowd.
As she sat at the water's edge of that forest, surveying the calm blue currents in front of her, her mind sort of slipped away into a never land of thought and spirit.
For some reason, the placid waves that swept over the rocks down below her caused her soul to become just as peaceful. It was a welcomed change from the tormentuous roller coaster of life back in âthe city,â a very welcomed detour from the trials and tribulations of trying to stay afloat in a sea of confusion and a whirlpool of emotions back home.
Staring at the ripples flowing along the lake, Ginny harkened back to that last weekend at Boston U, before she graduated, when she and Tony made love on the hilltop overlooking Walden Pond. She could still hear the distant train whistle, and know how Thoreau could fall in love with the place, much as she thought she was in love with Tony back then.
In her mindâs eye-view, she could still see that 22-year old senior who wrapped her arms around the shoulders and legs around the waist of the Terriersâ hockey captain. Her body reminisced every inch of where he put his hand, his tongue, his hard-on, as they made passionate, spine-tingling and mind-boggling love for hours. Walden may have been just minutes from Lexington and Concord, but Tony was hardly a âMinute manâ and when he came, Ginny could swear he did so with the force of a shot heard round the world.
The memories of those by-gone days blazed as warmly as the sun had when Gin first arrived at Lake Chittenango. Life seemed so much simpler then, so much easier, and happier. She wondered what happened to her Romeo, as much as she wondered what happened to the sparks that used to fly when she and Bob first met not long after graduation.
As she stretched out under that morning star to catch what she knew would be her last natural sun-tan before spring arrived next year, Ginny prayed that somehow, in recapturing the memories of lost years, she could also recapture he rlost youth. Sadly, though, as the warmth of the sun gave way to what was now a cool dusk, the nurse knew, alas, nothing lasts forever. Well, almost nothing does. As she closed her blouse and donned her jacket, the blond daydreamer was proud that she had done her very best to keep the figure she had when she was in her 20âs.
Her breasts, even in her forties, were still firm, still appealing to those who walked by. She snickered to herself that she may have even tantalized those who somehow might have caught a surreptitious glance of them from high above the hilltops over looking the lake as she had exposed them to the soft rays of the now-setting sun.
Collecting her blanket and sundry items, and playfully making some small stones she had gathered dance along the waves below, Ginny looked out at the horizon just in time to see the 2 in their small craft below come into shore. As the duo tied the boat to the dock, and took their fishing gear out, Ginny sort of welcomed the company. After all, they were strangers, people who did not know what her life back on the city streets were like.
Ginny was not sure how much of her they might have seen before she put her top on, as she had not noticed them before they came to the water banks. But, the more she stared at them, the more she hoped, if they had seen her, she had been a pleasant sight for their eyes. The red-headed sailor, she thought to herself, was surely a sight for hers. She couldnât stop staring at him as she approached the rowboat.
Apparently, she reckoned, they had not seen her, because the pair started climbing the path towards the cabins without saying a word. âCatch anything?â she yelled out "My friend, Rod, did. Look at those beautiful babies. Me, not much, except maybe a cold,â the seemingly older of the two replied. âI havenât gone fishing in these waters since my daddy taught me her how to catch my own dinner,â she said, just wanting to make conversation. It was nice to have company, to have someone to talk to.
As one thing led to another, before long they were all three engrossed in a discussion about absolutely nothing. Talking about the trivial things of life, rather than the ebb tide of life-and-death thoughts about patients that too often filled Ginny's brain, was as placid and calming as the water below. Ginny felt incredibly composed, and seemed reassured that life could be pleasant when you let it. She was so lost in thought, Ginny didn't notice the drop in their path that was covered by the clump of fallen branches.
When Ginny slightly lost her balance, Roddy, the dark haired, massively shouldered one of the two of them, caught her just before she fell, and steadied her. As he did, their eyes met, their pupils beginning to stare into each otherâs.
There was something about this rust-topped he-man that simply made Ginny blush. Her face was turning as red as his hair. She hadnât felt this way from merely looking into a stranger's eyes in a while. She struggled to dismiss the urges she was feeling, but the struggle seemed to be more and more in vain.
The way they glanced at each other was loosening some of her inner turmoil as much as the water loosened the rocks along the shore. Something in this young manâs eyes was working better than a Vodka and cranberry in releasing the tensions she had felt when she left home. .
"That could have been a nasty fall," Rod told her, "Maybe it's best that you lean on me the rest of the way."
Ginny couldnât explain to herself just what compelled her to do so, but she did lean on this younger man, maybe 5-10 years her junior. She even found her fingers searching and finally interlocking with his as they made the uphill trek the rest of the way to her cabin for dinner. The older gentleman, Pete, seemed to take some unspoken clue from his sailing buddy and excused himself, leaving Ginny and Rod alone to dine.
Crossing the wooden abode to light the huricane lamp, Ginny could feel Rodâs line of vision following her every move. Turning around rather sheepishly, as she caught his glance returning her own, she could feel his hazel eyes penetrating past her deep, dark bedroom brown orbs. They seemed to penetrate beyond her long blonde tresses and reach inside her to play tricks on her mind. Moreover, they were stimulating parts of her body far below her eyes in ways she had not felt for who knows how long?
It felt awkward, but at the same time, awesome. Ginny laughed to herself as she mumbled "ummm, awkwardly awesome" to have a man this young take an interest in a woman with nearly grown children.
They sat. They talked. They laughed about things. They shared stories of their lives. Roddy seemed reserved, but polite, friendly, and above all, attentive. He was never married, although he had come close a few times. He ran a hardware store back in Delhi, a nice rural community. Pete was his brother, an attorney in Syracuse.
âI love the way the fire catches your hair, and your smile, Ginny,â he said, a small âaw shucks, maâamâ smile crossing his face as he seemed too shy for words.
After dinner, they walked out where the only light was the natural glare of the stars, not those neon man-made creations that cane from towers of concrete that blocked the way to the night skies. As they did, and the stars filled the country sky in ways they no longer did among the polluted heavens above New York City, Ginny felt a blanket of security starting to develop. It felt as soft to her soul as a blanket a mother puts over her nearly newborn so the baby may rest peacefully in its crib. Ginny had been resting for too long, and not too comfortably, either. Suddenly, she seemed to feel as if her life, her soul, her desires, were coming out of the cocoon she had woven for herself.
Hearing the hoot owl ask, âWho?â Ginny thought to herself, âMe, thatâs who, you silly bird. Virginia Laura Marston, wife, mother, den mother, nurse, chef, cook and bottle-washer. Me, thatâs who, the woman who for the first time in years is coming alive. Me, the one who wants that man building our campfire to build an even more intense fire, inside of me. And I donât give a damn if the world sees it. Itâs about freaking time I came back to life!â
At that precise moment, Ginny didnât want to worry about any sense of security, not with life and all it had presented to her over the many years and most recent months. She simply needed someone at that moment who just wanted to make her feel better, and not worry about what the day after would be. Today, the sensation of "now", was all that was on Ginny's mind. "Then" and "later" were concepts foreign to the moment at hand.
âI donât want to sleep alone, tonight, Rod,â Ginny pleaded, âAnd I donât want to sleep in the cabin. I want to sleep in your arms. I want to sleep under the stars. And if I donât get a minute of sleep, Roddy, I wonât mind it at all.â
She truly did not know what it was as he stared into her eyes, and she got lost in his, almost as lost as she might have if she took the wrong trail in the woods. Yet, somehow, this was not the wrong trail at all, wherever it would lead. For some crazy, unknown reason, this seemed like the right path to a nice day of feeling free enough to simply feel, period.