|
My Walks With Julien and Camrynne
Our grand son Julien and our grand daughter Camrynne visit us often at our cottage home on Ahmic Lake.
When they arrive on a weekend the three of us walk around the property investigating what has changed
from their last visit. On this occasion we walk hand in hand as we wander down towards the lake.
“Oh Nana” cries Camrynne as we get to the lawn near the lake, “look at all the beautiful yellow
flowers.” “Damn dandelions” I mutter out loud. “Damn dandelions, damn dandelions” mimics 7
year old Julien. “Julien” I say sternly. “Damn dandelions” he repeats. “Julien, that’s once!”
That’s the parent signal for the misbehaving to stop. Camrynne pipes in, “but Nana they are
beautiful” and I suppose they are to a 5 year old. She has no idea the hours I spend pulling
and digging out those offending weeds from the grass. The children let go of my hands and
plunk themselves down on the ground as only flexible children can. “Nana,Nana, sit down
with the flowers” invites Canrynne. Easy for her to say. The getting down is not too bad,
it’s the getting back up that will be the chore. I manage to squat down and then sit
with a fair amount of knee joint cracking. That brings a puzzled look from Julien but
no comment. The children each pluck one of the offending dandelions and I think to
myself “maybe I can trick them into picking all of them”. Camrynne picks another one,
a mature one loaded with those pesky white wings that fly off with the wind to start more
damn dandelions somewhere else on my property. “Why are there white ones with the yellow ones?”
asks Camrynne. “Because they’re old or dead” pipes up Julien the precocious and typical 7 year old.
“Like Papa” he continues.
(1)
I give him a stern look but not the “twice” warning. Camrynne is still looking at me for an answer.
“Well”, I say, “when the dandelions get old the yellow blossoms turn into little white wings and at
the end of the wing is a seed.” “The wind blows the wings with the seeds into the air and they float
away and when they land they start growing a new dandelion”. “Is that like the birds and the bees?”
asks Julien with a silly grin on his face. “What has his mother been telling him?” “He’s only 7,
”I think to myself. Camrynne looks puzzled and asks “What does Julien mean, birds and the bees?”
“Oh no I’m not going there” I say to myself and I start to feel a little hot under the collar.
“Birds and the bees, birds and the bees” chirps Julien. “Enough Julien” I growl. “Camrynne doesn’t
know about the birds and bees” he continues. “Julien, now that’s twice”. We sit quietly for a few
minutes and Camrynne plucks a white wing from the mature dandelion and studies it. “Is this the seed?”
asks Camrynne as she points to a dark spot at the end of the wing. I give Julien a nervous glance but
he seems more interested in some dried leaves he had found on the ground. “Yes” I say, “that’s the seed”.
“Do all seeds grow into new dandelions?” she asks. I ponder this as adults do instead of just giving a
simple answer and saving me a lot of grief. “I think most of them do” I cautiously answer. The midget, that’s
what I call Camrynne sometimes, not because she is short in stature nor to be derogatory, but she often acts
and asks questions more like a 25 year old instead of a 5 year old. “So some seeds just die like some of Carli’s
puppies did?” she continues. It is more of a statement than a question, so I let the thought just hang there.
(2)
“Are you going to die Nana?” she asks and looks at me with those big brown eyes that are starting
to fill with tears as if she already knows the answer. Julien stops playing with the leaves and
looks apprehensively at me. “How do I get myself into these things?” I wonder and avoid the
question a little. “Ah, all things die but new life comes to replace whatever dies” I say quickly.
Both children give me a quizzical look. “I believe” I continue, “that when things die they give new
life to something else”. “Like those dried leaves that Julien has in his hand.” “They were green and
alive once on a branch on that tree.” “They died and dropped to the ground.” “If one of these feathery
dandelion seeds lands on them, the seed will use the leaves as food and grow and become a beautiful
yellow dandelion”. I almost choked on that part! “So life starts over and over and over again”
I continue. “That is the magical and beautiful part about nature and life”. Julien and Camrynne
stare at the leaves and then look at the white feathered dandelion in their hands. Camrynne
gently blows on the mature dandelion and dozens of seed wings float away. “Have a good life”
Camrynne whispers. She says it so softly and sincerely that I have to say the same, “have a
good life!”
The children’s mother calls from the porch of the cottage “I have some lemonade ready”.
“Do you want some?” I raise my arm and give a friendly wave “yes”. The children jump
to their feet and I struggle but finally make it up. I look at the ground where I had
been sitting. There is dog dirt from Carli. I look at the back of my pants which are
now covered in dog dirt! “Nana pooped her pants” yells Julien and both children look
and laugh. “Julien, don’t make it three”!
(3)
We start back towards the cottage. Partway up I stop and look back at the yellow blanket of dandelions.
They somehow have changed or I guess I have because they no longer look like a blight to be torn out
of the ground but beauty and life to enjoy. I am just about to say sorry to Julien for not seeing
the humour in my plight and the joy of simple things when he solemnly says “sorry Nana”. I gently
squeeze his hand. How can I explain to him that I am the one that should be sorry? These intelligent
and inquisitive children have reopened my mind to the beauty and wonder of nature. I need the count
of three, not them! They let go of my hands and run towards the cottage and before the screen door
is half opened I hear the children yelling “Nana pooped her pants, Nana pooped her pants!”
Susan Brooks is a retired nurse and lives with her writer husband on a beautiful
water system in Ontario Canada. She edits her husband's writing and is an out going person socially and in the community.
She is an avid sailor and dotes on her family especially the grandchildren.
Email: Susan Brooks
Return to Table of Contents
|
