I’m lying on my bed exhausted. But that good kind of exhausted.
Today I had a wonderful surprise. I saw vistas I’ve never seen before and walked on trails I’ve never trod and never even knew existed. I had my jaw drop open from beauty, and from surprise like a kid on Christmas. And basically in my own front yard!
It is almost 3 months since John and I began our “self-quarantine.” And since we don’t have a car, we have spent three months only going places we can walk. Fortunately, we chose where we live for the wonderful walks nearby – the Cristo hike, Nacascolo, the walk to town and of course along the beach. But even these walks can get to feel a bit too routine when done daily in three month’s time.
So today we set out on an outing. We hadn’t hiked out the headland on the rocks below Cristo out to the cave in more than a year. And the tide would be low enough, which is mandatory. Off we went with our friend JoAnne Stoltz, scrambling on our butts over the slick wet rocks in places, and sitting a spell in one spot to allow the tide to drop even more. We watched two fishermen throwing out hand lines. We gazed on giant waves engulfing house-sized blocks of rock. And then the cave, its floor lined with multicolored hues of stone.
All this we knew from before. And honestly, it even was enough.
But then we spotted a trail we hadn’t seen before. It opened up from the beach and appeared to head straight up into the jungle. We looked back along the rocky sea shore route we had come. Large rain clouds were moving in. If it started to rain, the slick rocks we’d crossed could be even worse upon our return. We glanced up the new trail into the jungle and had visions of where it would take us. A short cut of sorts. Let’s see! And so we went.
And that is when the magic began. The surprise. The beauty. The wonder.
We didn’t know because we had never been. And we had never seen.
And what did we see? Beautiful trails with log steps going up and up and up, and handrails. Benches made of branches to sit upon, and vistas for ever and ever out over the sea. Now here’s the place to watch whales from! And to dance while twirling and singing The Sound of Music. We looked at each other in shock. Had we wandered into a fairy land? How is it that this place has been here and we did not know?
In the distance, far below, upon the rocks that the sea was dashing upon, there were fishermen casting their hand lines. The fishermen have known. The fishermen always find the coolest spots.
There were trails leading this way and that, and down to the sea. But the broad expanse of the bluff was the most majestic of it all. This was no shortcut at all because the headland was bigger than we’d imagined. And yet it eventually got us to where we needed to go, which was home.
Thank you God for good surprises.
For beauty. For nature. For the sea upon rocks. For handrails and steps and benches in the jungle. For our willingness to take a risk and a break from our routine. For this to be so close to home. For Nicaragua!
