A Forgotten Field from Years Past

The title is a misnomer. I could never forget you. Grass as tall as my 14-year-old self swaying in the breeze of a late summer evening. You were forgotten when I found you, but I have never forgotten you.

The year is 1999, I’m home from football practice late in the afternoon. I don’t have time to go to the creek and ride for long. That will have to wait for when our season is over. I am coming to you.

It’s like you are lost in time. How did you get here? Who owns you? Untouched, vast, not a drop of humanity in sight. Your grass should have been harvested for hay by now. But instead, you are here for me and only me. What a gift, your presence and mine. A touch of eternity I will be able to recall for the rest of my life.

As I straddle my Reckon I make sure to place my foot on the peg and not the plastic mud guard. It’s already stripped, one of the few flaws Honda put in this incredible machine. I turn the ignition, and my right thumb gently applies the throttle and she wakes up.

I press down on the red button at the top of the left brake while simultaneously clamping my hand down on the lever and press down with my left foot on the shifter knob. A red light appears on the instrument panel and she jerks a little in reverse. With a touch of the throttle from my right thumb she begins rolling backwards out of my carport.

I spin her around, pull up one time on the shifter lever and the instrument panel goes dark. She’s in first gear. I begin my forward motion. My driveway slopes down quickly onto the road.

Roads in South West Mississippi, especially 200-year-old roads, run deep. This road is no exception. On either side of the road is a 10-foot embankment, with the exposed roots of the trees and brush that line the woodland at its peak.

As I shift through the gears and accelerate my 250cc ATV to its maximum speed, the cool afternoon breeze rushes through my hair. This is my happy place. Sitting on a combustion engine, exposed, rushing the universe.

I’m going ¼ of the mile up the road to a road called Muddy Fork. It goes nowhere, except to you. As I approach Muddy Fork Rd, it’s on the left. I need to cross the road and I am ascending a hill so I need to be careful as before I cross.

I am always careful around this part of my road because it’s close to the Sheriff’s firing range and they share it with the state troopers. They love harassing teenagers like me out on our ATVs.

There is no one coming and I make my dash across the street. Muddy Fork goes uphill and is a tree-lined gravel road. On the right side of the road is an old barbed wire fence. Maybe you were a home for cattle at some point. I am sure they were very happy cows considering how lush and beautiful you are.

I’m running down Muddy Fork full throttle, winding through the gears. There are two old gates, the first one goes to a small dirt road that runs along your right side. The second one is like the rear entrance to the most spectacular theater in the world.

There is an old gate but it’s open, there are no tire marks and the trail is not worn down. There’s a few areas where deer have been bedding at night and some remnant track marks from the last time I came and visited you, but that’s it.

Nobody knows you’re here but me.

I whip my 4 wheeler around facing the exit in case I do finally meet your owner and have to run for it. I also prefer lounging on the handlebars with my feet on the back rack.

You truly are spectacular. Today is an exceptional day. Clear skies except for the trademark fall clouds practically in space. The wind is lightly blowing but not in any direction. Just the occasional gust causing your tall grass to wave to and fro, hypnotizing me with your natural beauty.

I have so much homework to worry about, but in this moment while I sit here and admire your beauty I am fully present. My mind goes blank, all I can focus on is the tall grass following the contour of your rolling hills and how they are interrupted with two oak trees like sentinels keeping watch. At the end of the field meets the forest, in south Mississippi you could call it a jungle. Oak trees, Pecan trees, Magnolias, all serving as a barrier protecting you from the outside world.

If only they could protect you forever.

24 years from now you will be a county horse arena. Your oak trees will be cut down and in their place will be a cell phone tower. There will be a service road to those towers and thank god for progress for Muddy Fork Road is not muddy anymore because its paved.

But in this moment, you and I will create a memory that will last a lifetime. I don’t know now what mindfulness is but later when I discover the concept I will have already experienced its potency with you right here right now.

You brought me out of the world. Took me away from AOL instant messenger, and my CD player. You gave me a chance to connect to the universe in a way that I will not discover again for 18 years.

I am forever grateful and you will not be forgotten.