to give, to receive

me the provider

part of who I need to be is the provider,

in the day I’ve been here at the cabin
I’ve felt “LeConte” coming,
our big social overnight of the year:
the hike, the camaraderie, the opening of doors
to creek and effort, to flower and effort,
to sunset and sunrise, and effort,
the good food before, during, and after,

the gentle guiding of opening of doors
so that others can see beyond and choose to walk through,

I’ve baked a country ham, pork-filled buns
with barbecue from our own barbecued pig,
blueberry muffins from our own blueberries,
I’ve boiled and snipped chicken for our salad
and put up six more pans of angel biscuits
for the celebratory meal when we’re back down,

plus a flurry of phone calls: logistics is a challenge,

I’ve already bought, processed, and frozen the traditional applesauce,

meanwhile, this afternoon I notice some new neighbors are at home
so I take a container of applesauce to one,
to welcome her to the neighborhood,
she shows me her new windows
and I ask if she wants to see bears out them,
we exchange phone numbers so we can alert the other as to bears,
an hour later I get a call,
“. . . cubs up a tree, just down the road. . .”

I spend an hour photographing two up a sycamore,
who patiently wait while mom finds the food their nursing needs,
two cubs in the same tree, half-awake, half-asleep,
they look at us, the paparazzi, who need to see them,























and they? they merely put up with seeing us,



a third cub, diminutive, went another way,











I spot him, watch him, and snap picture after picture of him
scurrying around road, bridge, people, fence, and stream,
he works hard to find a way back to family,
I snap picture after picture of him
as he crosses the creek, is thwarted by a fence,
recrosses the creek, and escapes up a hill,

the mom does not return while I have patience to wait,
dusk approaches and I have my own agenda to follow,
though my agenda has much of the provider, and thus others, woven into it,

how wonderful that I get a gift,
directly as a result of my giving for giving’s sake.

by Henry H. Walker
July 15, ’11