How Mother Nature Humbles You

If you’d like to hear the story narrated to you, click play on the video above!

 

Yesterday I spent several hours walking miles through our family property in search of dropped deer antlers. While the recent warm front has gotten us past the dreaded winter cold, it has now led to another problem for outdoorsmen like me; that is, an incredibly slippery and treacherous muddy surface on top of every hill and field.

As I trekked through the timber, I started making my way down a steep coal dump left behind decades ago by miners. At this point, I had walked a couple hours without incident and was becoming a little too confident in my ability to navigate the slippery slopes of the woods. It’s usually at those moments when Mother Nature finds a way to humble you…

Right on cue, my right heel connected with a particularly damp patch of leaves…and let’s just say the connection didn’t last long.

My foot promptly gave out and I was on my backside before I could even try to save my balance. But that’s where it really gets good because not only was I on my ass, but I now was sliding uncontrollably down the hill, at a pace I was not okay with, towards a tree that would have ideally been located elsewhere.

If I witnessed this whole event from an objective point of view, I would probably have described it as follows: an incredibly ungraceful, capsized turtle frantically flailing about in an attempt to save its life under impossible circumstances.

Within a split second, I slid nearly 10 feet, but somehow avoided the trees and thorn bushes initially in my path. I escaped from the ordeal unscathed, leaving my pride as the only casualty…

After the fact, I half wished someone had witnessed it.  At least then I could have provided a bit of entertainment for somebody!  Instead, Mother Nature was the only onlooker, and I bet she got quite the kick out of humbling me yet again.  She always gets the last laugh.

 

20150308_112607
The end result of my long slide down the muddy hill.

 

 

 

 

Liked this story? Subscribe here for more updates!