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Go Quietly LbNA #6984

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Dec 28, 2003
Location:
City:Lacey
County:Thurston
State:Washington
Boxes:2
Planted by:Ants Go Marching
Found by: guato (2)
Last found:Sep 5, 2004
Status:aFaa
Last edited:Dec 28, 2003
Go Quietly…

They will come back, come back again, as long as
The red earth rolls. He never wasted a leaf or a tree.
Do you think He Would squander souls?
"The Sack of the Gods" by Rudyard Kipling - 1907

Place: Lacey’s Long Lake Park, at 2700 Carpenter Road in Lacey's wooded "lake district," has Thurston County's best freshwater swimming beach, small wooded hiking trail, plus volleyball and barbecue facilities. From I-5 take Martin Way E. Exit. Exit south onto Carpenter Way. Park is before you reach Thurston County Fairgrounds and is located on the left. Park in the lot.

Here is a link with a map: http://www.theolympian.com/home/specialsections/Sourcebook2003/20030720/Parks.pdf

Begin at the trail’s entry closest to Carpenter Road. There are metal and wood posts indicating the trail’s entry. This walk will return you to the parking lot.

Did you know that trees record every story within their rings? Their rings indicate when a forest was logged, a fire burned etc. People have been able to date an occurrence within a week based upon a tree’s rings. They keep their stories close and quiet for only the most observant and attentive of visitors to decipher. These trees are no different. They welcome you into their home. Look around and note the Doug Firs and Cedars with open areas of undergrowth. Find for a spot especially open and suitable for a rabbit to cavort and dart from young tree to old. In fact, if you listen carefully a story telling may be heard. The two most towering elders whisper it to the infant who stands in that opening. One of the elders holds her offspring closely. Look within their hold a clue to the subject. (This stamp is designed for multiple printing in your book.)

“Years ago,” their mother begins, “a man entered our forest on a heavy October day. The elders were bathed in autumn mist and the forest was at its most peaceful. The man carried something gently in his arms. Its cloth wrapping grew moist as he walked.

His head hung low over the bundle. His heart, the forest felt, sat swelling in his throat. The elders could sense his grief and watched attentively as he walked. The ground was soft and nearly silent beneath his step.

Slowly, he made his way down the path. Although it beckoned many hikers, he passed the first bench and then sat silently on the second. He tenderly opened his bundle to reveal the breathless form of his beloved rabbit. Her black fur was silky to his touch and he thoughtfully stroked her downy ears. He sighed, and then looked around him as if aware of the forest for the first time. Perhaps he sensed the elders’ branches stretching to comfort him. The forest creatures, recognizing his sorrow, hushed.

He looked to his right, stood and walked 28 paces in that direction. There he paused again. To his left was a small hill. He looked to his right. There was a nurse log and cedar where the Mother stands tall. Her two youngest shied behind her back while her oldest son ventured a couple steps from his path. The man leaned against this oldest son and faced the trail.

He crossed and wandered up a small incline. This is where he bid her farewell and left with empty arms, attempting to absorb the end of that story.

The world turned away from the sun and grew dark. Sometime in the early morning hours a loud crash was heard. The forest awakened. Few trees and creatures were awake to witness what had happened next.

The evidence of this story can be viewed from where the oldest son still stands. He remains peering across the trail and up the small incline to where several young cedars (numbering 6 or so) bend backward from one another. Some broken, some not. So disturbed by the man's grief, he could not sleep that very night. He claims that he saw a wood nymph float down to the spot where the man had buried his little companion. She waved her hands over the spot where the little body rested.

She hummed and whispered, whispered and hummed. Again a wave of her slight hands.

“Wake. Wake,” she commanded.

Suddenly, and this happened very fast, there was a whoosh and a poof, a crash and a scamper. The forest awoke to see the most beautiful black rabbit scampering in their midst. They watched as she made a burrow near where she first met the wood nymph, across the trail and up the slight incline from the oldest son who bore witness to that magical moment. The smallest cedar leans over her burrow and points towards the path.

The man has visited many times since. She hops up and down in delight of his presence. And although he does not see her, he feels her and smiles."

She sleeps during the day. Go quietly so to not disturb her.

Please email me when you find her: yo-ho-geo@comcast.net