A Ride In The Night

During the day the farm is so open and simple and unfolds before you, as open fields with cattle grazing quietly, are gloriously green. The wind blows the tall grass gently as the breeze touches my face. The deep green of all the fields and surrounding trees look as if it were a picture, taken out of a magazine. The only break in the emerald color are the occasional sandy colored paths the vehicles travel on. The sight beckons me to walk through the grass and take it all in.

Before I can begin that calming walk, I am called to help my husband with a project. Not to worry though, because these long summer days are plentiful. Perhaps later in the day when the sun is going down, would be cooler anyway.
I leave my chair under the trees and spend the afternoon with my husband, not giving any more thought to the walk I had intended to take.

Dinner is outside tonight with my son joining us for fresh corn from the fields. Everyone is happily allowing butter to run down our chins and hands. Corn, freshly pulled and wrapped in it's own husk is never better, than on a late evening in the yard with family laughing and asking for more. As darkness begins to fall we take all the food into the house and wash up the dishes. My son is still outside while this takes place of course. He sticks his head in the door and calls me outside. Thinking I must have forgotten something, I wipe my hands and slip on my sandals, leaving the rest of the cleanup to my sons wife.

He is sitting on the four-wheeler, smiling. "Come on." he calls to me. Never one to resist having fun with any of my sons, no matter how many dishes are left, I jump on the back and hold on. As we rode across the fields, I was brought back to my earlier thoughts of walking through this tall grass that was now slapping against my bare legs, making them itch!. Still..it's much more enjoyable flying along in the coolness brought in by the darkness. The sun is nowhere to be seen now, as we head toward to opening in the woods, that leads to a path. Having too much fun flying along, at a much higher speed than we should have been, I gave no thought to heading into the woods...after dark. After all, I was with my son and he knew those woods like the back of his hand, even if I didn't.

The path is wider than most you would find in the woods. It has been maintained for equipment to use, going from one farm to another. The tree branches reach out to each other and form a canopy over us as we fly through, dust raising a cloud behind us and reaching out to cover us like a blanket, unless we keep ahead of it. Tears are running down my cheeks from the wind in my face and I hold on tighter. He slows down to show me, with the headlights shining on it, a deer rub he had found earlier in the day. The dust had followed us and now covered us while we sat admiring the rub, leaving a bitter thick taste in my mouth. Oh for a diet drink right now!

He takes off again and on through the twists and turns of the path we go, at a much higher rate of speed than I would have chosen. Still, I can show no fear. After all these years I must show courage, or at least pretend that I still have some. I lay my head against his back and hold on tight, as the four-wheeler jumps in the air with each bump in the path. Suddenly I am awash in mud. We had driven through a giant mud puddle, not by accident, and it covered my back and face. He let out a howl of laughter and revved the engine more, delighting in what he had accomplished. Away we flew into the night through the dark and eerie trees, with branches now reaching toward me to pull me off of the roaring machine and land me in the darkness. I just knew that I would be lost forever in the darkness, if I let go for a moment.

He stops to admire a clear spot in the woods, made by the deer. Turning to me, he asks if I am ok. I nod and smile, never for a moment willing to let him know I might be scared. He grins and heads off again, turning down another path. Now, I know where this path leads to and I was suddenly unsure of my decision to come on this night ride, with my demon for speed son. Of course, I could never tell him I am afraid. I am the mom, right? Do I ever earn the right to tell my children I am afraid? Not yet, no.. I am not ready to take to the rocking chair and miss all the fun they have to offer, now that they are grown and have to worry about themselves. So, I will nod and smile and hope we stay on the used part of this path...ahhh...that's not gonna happen!!

He has now taken a sharp turn to the left and yells for me to hold on, laughing with glee. Wonder what he thought I was doing back there? I did however hold on tighter now, as the huge gulley's and water holes washed mud over us. I think this is what some would call, mud bogging, as I feel it running down my back. The difference is, they do it in the daylight with somewhat of a road to follow. Not us, oh no. We are on the power line, at the back of the farm in the dead of night, bouncing over ruts three feet deep. He is in his glory now as we fishtail around in the mud and once again find enough dirt to dig in and get a footing for the tires to grab. My face is covered in mud and so are my hands, making it difficult to wipe my eyes and clear them of dust and mud. Water..water..please.

We stop. He sits and listens, telling me to shush. Shush what? My heavy breathing? 
Suddenly a huge animal is in front of us. The dust in the headlights shows a large shadowy figure, hovering almost on top of us. My son turns that four wheeler around, doing a 180, as we almost turn over, in his haste to get us out of there. Noises are coming from the animal as we dig the rear wheels deep and climb out of a rut almost choking out the machine. Do I dare look behind us? Nope! I hide my face in his back.

I am holding on for dear life, so tight I have his shirt clenched in my claws and my head almost burying an imprint on his back. We head back to the path we had started on and I am sure, as I peek around him, that we will soon be flying over top the trees at this speed. I try to glance behind me to see if anything is following us, but I can' let go enough to see. I bury my head again and dig my ankles into the sides of the four wheeler so tight they hurt. My butt is rising off the seat at each bump and I cringe, fearing the worst, until it hits the seat again.

Finally after what seemed hours, yet was only minutes, we reached the opening of the path and could see the lights from the house. Relief settled in and I rode the last quarter mile in a more relaxed position, even though we were still going at top speed. Almost to the house now, my son eases off the gas and slows down to a stop. Really! So close to home but too far to run, he stops! He is looking behind us. I pat him on the back and yell, "Go!" He laughs and takes off again.

When we are safely within the light from the porch he stops and we get off. I look at him and ask,"What was that?" His eyes are looking at me as though I can't be serious. "Mom! It was a bear!" he says. I look up at him for almost a full minute, thinking about how close we wear to it. "What do you mean, it was a bear?" He starts to laugh and holds his hands up in the air, like duh! I begin to think about that rough and terrifing ride back to the path and realize that I was on the back and closest to that things reach, as it chased us. "Why do you think I was trying so hard to get away?" he asks as he reads the thoughts going through my head.
I look at him with narrowed eyes, "I didn't know there were any bears back there!" I tell him in fury now. He is still laughing, harder now, with tears streaming down his muddy face. As he reaches up to wipe the tears and smears mud everywhere, I begin to laugh too.
"So, you took your only mother out on a midnight ride with the bears!" I am laughing so hard now, I have to sit down.
He looks at me and says, "It was fun, wasn't it Mom?" I slap at him and miss as he moves deftly away, smiling at his still youthful outlook on life, this grown son of mine. Smile and laugh, no matter how close you come to getting....eaten by a bear! That's my boy!