Suspended in a Slice of Time
I had been at Waldo Lake under the blazing sun for four hours towards the end of last August. The only thing on my mind was to take a nap in the shade. My friend, Aurelia and I went off to find a group of trees to hang our hammocks up. Our idle spot was a good set of trees to suspend from, for Aurelia and I be close enough to talk to one another, and to have a view of the water. We walked up and down the main trail seeing endless amounts of deep green colored trees with a view of smoke draped over the lake, yet there was nowhere for us to temporarily rest our mind and body. We either found an area with trees that were too hard to get to, the trees were too small, the trees were too big, or there wasn’t enough room for the two of us.
We circled back to where we started, and that’s when we decided: we were done walking, and we would make the spot work. The area had a cluster of decent sized trees, a couple of cement benches, trails that led elsewhere, and a glimpse of the water. Aurelia decided to think outside the box. She tied one end of her green hammock to a tree and tied the other end to a bench post. It was my turn. I decided to go with the classic two tree suspension. So, I used the same tree as Aurelia’s and a tree that was off the pathway. Together we looked like the outline of a pie slice.
There we were laying in the same world, but our thoughts were in another. For the first twenty minutes, I was really uneasy about being so vulnerable while taking a nap.
The only protection I had was my blue hammock. I kept moving around in it, I opened and closed it when I heard someone walk by, and I periodically poked my head out to make sure we were safe. As time passed by, I started to care less about what people thought about and was focused on fact that I was enjoying myself.
I was about to take a nap when a middle-aged man in a black wet suit politely said hello to me. He continued to ask me questions about the condition of the lake due to it being so smokey. “Did you get in the water? How’s the water? Was it cold?” He asked.
I replied, “ It was cold for me, but you’re in a wet suit, so you should be fine.”
He then asked, “ How was the visibility? Do your eyes hurt from the smoke? ”
I responded, “I squinted a lot while I was on the water. The longer I was down there the more my eyes got irritated. That’s why I am hiding in my hammock.” We both awkwardly chuckled, and then he walked towards the water. I was once again alone with my thoughts. I slumped back into my safe space and wrapped the smooth sun-kissed hammock around me, so I wouldn’t feel completely alone.
I was once again ready for that nap. I let my head fall heavy into my towel. I let the heat from the sun warm my suspended bed. I let the breeze gently push it back and forth cooling me down. And, I let the noise of the birds put me to sleep.
I slowly woke up from the half an hour nap with my eyes adjusting to the sun shining into my cocoon and a slight breeze whistling in my ears. I don’t remember what I dreamed about, except for the feeling of being present and free. When I unwrapped the slightly heated wrinkle fabric from itself, I saw the same guy, but he was wet this time. This time I politely said hello and asked the questions “How was the water? Was it cold?”
He responded, “The water was kinda cold but not too bad. The wet suit did help though. Also, the smoke has cleared up a bit but it’s still pretty bad.” He then asked, “ Did you have a good nap? Is someone in that hammock next to you?”
“Uhh…yeah my friend is. I…uhh…think she’s asleep.” I mumbled, “Yeah…my nap was good. I really needed it.”
He asked, “So do you come out here a lot? Do you live close to Waldo Lake?”
I answered, “Umm no I think I’ve been here once or twice, but my friend comes here a lot with her family. Yeah! I live in Eugene, so it’s a few hours away.” We said our goodbyes. I watched him head towards the trail leaving drops of Waldo Lake behind.
I was alone again with my swirling thoughts. I thought over how a lot had happened in an hour and a half. How difficult it was to take a nap. How anxious I was about taking a nap. How saying hello or smiling at someone could start a one-time conversation or a conversation that lasts a lifetime. How grateful I was to be able to experience nature with my friends. How change can be scary but it would become regular. And, how nervous it could be to live life at a certain moment. Fortunately, my train of thought got interrupted before it got too deep by Aurelia poking her head out of her hammock.
We sat there chatting about how we needed those naps and that we were still so exhausted. Then, I told her about talking to the guy. Moments after, she told me that she heard our conversation, but she didn’t want to talk to us. We had a good laugh about how awkward was. Soon after, we untied our hammocks and walked towards the water as if no one took a nap here in the first place.