Trails Less Traveled

Harold, Beaver River 9/2/2012

The Tramp & Trail Club lost a good friend this past week.  Harold Pier warmed the hearts of all who knew him. As club president he was fair, understanding and open. For Harold Pier, it wasn’t enough to retire and settle in to lounge though his golden years. When I first met Harold, I was amazed at his youthfulness, especially once I found out his age. Hiking with Harold was always a learning experience – if we heard a bird sweetly singing in the tree’s canopy, Harold could tell us what we were listening to.

Harold was a learner and did not consider himself too old to be learning new things. The past two years, Harold spurred me on to re-learning my wildflowers as he and I would try to identify what we saw along the trails and waterways. If we couldn’t immediately identify a plant, we would come home and try to figure it out – and Harold was usually the one to come up with the correct identification first!

I always valued a Tramp & Trail Club outing that included Harold. During such outings, Harold quietly demonstrated how to see more than the immediately obvious, how to settle back quietly and simply soak it all in and see with new sight.

Harold was a strong man, in action as well as in thought.  But strength can be fleeting, and all stories come to an end sooner than we would like. Harold became ill and left us, but he never became old!

Standing upon a precipice,

Struggling for balance.

Opening up to a new place

One moment in time.

There!

Now!

On your way,

Finally free!

Good-bye until tomorrow.

Good-bye until we walk eternal trails.

For you have been waiting,

Waiting for this.