The Land Remembers
Gathering Ground
... Edgar was playing with the great grandkids in their yard. Mostly he was sitting as they ran, chased, screamed, and laughed. He had grown so old it was about all he could do. He liked his visits, but had the distinct feeling the great-grandkids were instructed to watch out for him, not he for their safety. A truck stopped and a young man walked over. He had once went about with such a youthful stride. The young man removed his slouch hat. “Hello Edgar it is good to see you, I am Wabi.”
Edgar: “You done a heap of growing since I last saw you. How are you and the People?”
Wabi: “I am well, the People are still. I want to thank you for listening to the People. I have learned most men would not, although being a child I never thought there was any other way.”
Edgar: “It has worked out well, the cost saved on the new lines about equaled the move. We had some good years for crops; it helps to not have a bad year when you first stretch yourself on a new place. The cabin lean-to was burnt up just a few stones and a little metal left when we went back up there in the Spring. Must have been lightening to fire it like that did you see that, too?”
Wabi: “I did, but did not completely understand.”
Edgar: “Grandson has made a good field of it now. Only when the ground is bare and the discolored soil visible can you know there was ever any house or buildings there at all. Hope that is OK with the People. Don’t have a cake, but Beth makes some great cookies”
Wabi: “Yes, the People are still. No I have begun a fast. May I leave the truck over by the barn? I’d like to walk from here.”
Edgar: “Yes, anytime, good to see you again. Hope things are settled now, an old man with his days about gone likes to feel things are settled.”
Wabi: “The sun is warm, there is laughter, good smells, joy, and love. It is good here today. The past must live with the past. None can change it. We live as we live; you have done well. I am thankful for you, the land will remember.”
Return
Forgottonia
is a place where you can endlessly wander the lonely roads, and
never once miss the fast lane. The name Forgottonia captures an
image of a region, off the beaten path, which is very true of
Western Illinois.
