Lost again! ! !

I couldn’t believe that Lloyd was lost again! He had just been here, but now he was gone to who knows where.

He had been doing many things that made him quite happy ever since the Wizard (or ‘The Wiz’, as we called him) much as he done for The Tin Man, had given him a heart.

To complicate things even more, Dorothy and Toto were no longer anywhere in Yuma. I had searched everywhere for them, but the result was always the same. They were lost again.

By John Gable

*****

Lost Again

It was a warm afternoon in the Juniper­–Piñon forest just on the outskirts of Flagstaff. One of those early Fall days – a clear, brilliantly blue sky, with the scent of pine needles in the air.

Many people from Flagstaff go to the forest to collect pine nuts. My family was gathered for a picnic of cold chicken and fixings with the goal of collecting pine nuts later in the day. Not everyone was enthusiastic about searching for pine nuts after eating such a big lunch

It is nearly impossible to see the small brown nuts once they fall from the cones into the needle litter underneath the trees. But over the years we had perfected a technique. We placed an old blanket under a Piñon tree and then, shaking the low-hanging branches, collected the cones that fell.

Fresh pine nuts are delicious, even if you do get some sap and shell pieces in the bargain. I was 10 and thought this would be fun. Armed with blanket and bucked, I followed my sister to a nearby tree. Then we moved on to the next, by now out of sight of the car. I was so absorbed in the task at hand that I didn’t notice when she left . When I realized, I had know idea which direction to go. Every tree looked the same! I couldn’t see the car. Not concerned, I just kept collecting and eating pine nuts. I certainly wasn’t paying attention to the time. By now the sun was getting low on the horizon, obscured by the trees. I guess I was lost again.

I stopped and listened, and I heard someone calling, Jo! Jo! I did not recognize the voices. Several strangers emerged from the adjacent trees and asked if I my name was Jo. They said my family was frantic and searching for me. By then my mother appeared and all was well. I still do not have a good sense of direction.

By JoAnne Mowczko