My Side of the Corn Field

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[Ben]:	My Side of the Corn Field	Discuss This [5 comments so far] View Comments
A few weeks ago, Nate came over to ride his borrowed bike and we took some trails I had found. One of those trails goes perhaps a third of a mile through a wooded lot not quite a mile from my house. The end of the trail terminates in a corn field where you either have to turn around or - as Nate and I did - force your way through a bordering tree line to an undeveloped field and go out that way. This evening I was riding that trail. When I came to the corn field I was trying to decide which way to go when I caught sight of another small trail just west of where I had come out. I hopped off my bike and walked over and sure enough someone had cut a small trail for a few yards into the woods. Nestled in a small clearing was a shabby tent being mostly held up by ropes tied to trees, a backpack, an insulated lunch pack and a book. After checking around for occupants I wandered into the tiny camp. Someone had prepared a shallow fire pit, but hadn't built a fire. A small tree had been half chopped and half broken down. It was dark, so I had to get close to read the title of the book that was sitting exposed under the trees. It was one of my favorite childhood books - My Side of the Mountain. My Side of the Mountain is a book about a young boy who runs away from home and first survives and later thrives in the wilderness. Cara - knowing my fondness for the story - bought me a copy to read in the deer stand last year. For some reason, knowing that a kid is getting outside and having an adventure just does me good.