The Night I Peed In the Woods

My neighbor, alias Lucy, she calls me Ethal, came over to get me after work for a short, 2 mile walk. HA! I should have know better.

I grabbed my tennis shoes, put them on quickly and off we went. We made it down to the corner, rounded the bend and up the next street to the golf course. I thought we were going to turn around and come back home. But NOOOO, Lucy wanted to walk into the golf course. I was ok with that. Then she remembered that there was a pond with a bridge and so we took down a path that we thought led to it. As we were walking it was getting darker. As it's getting darker, I told her I had to go to the little girls room.  So did she. She raised her eyebrows and looked towards the woods.  She is used to doing this sort of thing outdoors as she is a kayaker and is always out in places where one has to squat by trees and such. I am not a kayaker or a camper or anything else where this activity is normal outdoors. But I didn't have a choice this night. The evening was getting later and darker and we had walked way off the road. Woods were to our right and when I spotted just the right tree in just the right spot, I stepped off the path and Lucy went up ahead to her own tree.

I prayed as I squatted for there to be no snakes slithering around and I prayed for there to be no poison ivy or anything else poison in said spot. I nervously looked around and squatted quickly and rose faster on my aged, weak knees than I had ever before! Well, I told Lucy, that was quite an adventure! Off we went to make our way to the bridge. But the more we walked, the further we were getting from the destination we wanted. It was getting darker and all Lucy had was a little headlight on her forhead that was I thought was getting dimmer and dimmer. Thank goodness the moon was out and bright enough to light our path. The woods continued to be to my right and in the dark, we could hear the crunch of leaves beneath our feet. It was SO loud and now I'm wondering if there really is such a thing as a boogie man and that he could be in those woods. We were calling him with the crunch, crunch, crunch of leaves beneath our feet. I couldn't help but think how he could jump out at any minute and grab us and pull us into the woods and no one would ever know. I didn't think to tell my husband where I was going, because I thought I would be back soon. I should have known with Lucy, you just never know.

After about 3 miles, and noticing we were gettting further and further into the dark and away from civilization, I must have sounded nervous because Lucy asked if I wanted to turn and back track up the path we just came down. "Oh, let me see, YES!" I said. Now it is dark with only the moon to guide us. The moon was beautiful, by the way, out there in the country over an open field, with the pond that we never could find our way to.

I raised up my arms to the glorious moon shining against the dark sky. I wanted to show Lucy, as if she couldn't already see it. It was majestic out there in the open sky with no telephone poles and wires and buildings and city lights to take away the glory of it. It was beautiful! And I knew out there in the open field, in the dark, with the woods now to our left, that we were being watched. . .not by the boogie man, but by our Savior, our Lord and I suddenly felt giddy. I felt such joy! Praise welled up from both of us. What a mighty God we serve! And then I noticed my 50 year old legs were screaming that they had enough of walking and it was time to get home.

But the moment, out in the field, in the dark, with the woods to our left. . . was glorious! It was worth peeing in the woods.

This was not our first Lucy and Ethal moment. And I'm sure it won't be our last. I love my Lucy!

Do you have a Lucy in your life? Or are you the Lucy?