Wonderland 2022

H. The Mock Turtle's Story

H. The Mock Turtle's Story


1."And the Moral of That Is" – The Duchess does seem to find a lot of morals in things, so tell us a non-fictional event that left you with a most important moral you’ll never forget. (<1000 words).

And the moral of the story is:

Always wear the right foot gear for the trail. Never walk down a mountain trail in clogs. It doesn’t matter if that trail is level, no steep climbs, no mountain passes to climb, no rocks to clamber over. Always wear hiking boots.

A few weeks ago I made a pilgrimage to a town where I used to live. There is a forest near the town, with lots of hiking. I figured I’d take a trail and hike for an afternoon. It’s bear country and I shouldn’t have hiked alone, but I did take bear spray and prayed no bears appear. They didn’t. In fact, I saw no animals whatsoever.

But I didn’t wear hiking boots. I wore everyday clogs. A footwear I use for gardening. In my haste to leave my house, I forgot my boots. The thought ran through my brain, but I forgot. So I slogged down the trail in clogs. No worries, until I got to a stream crossing. Now the stream is small, just about 2 inches of water, but rocky. And I didn’t really want to get wet.

So I begin to cross the stream on a convenient bridge, a fallen log. First edging my way across with tiny steps one way, then I turn and go a little further. Now I have to jump a few feet to a rock. Hmm. As I jump I make an elegant landing in the rocky stream on my side, from my elbow down to my hip. My glasses go flying. Lucky for me they didn’t break. They’re new and cost a fortune. So now I am completely wet. I test my arm, my shoulder. All seems in working order, thanks be to God. I dodged a bullet. I could have broken my arm, my elbow, my collar bone when I landed on all those rocks. I am now at least 2 miles from my car. But all that happened was a good gash on my arm. Blood spots my hiking shirt that now has a gash in it as well.

All because I forgot my hiking boots. If I’d worn them, I could have splashed through that little bit of water. Lesson learned.

W/C 373