Loren's 75th Birthday Rolls Around and He's Still Hiking

I'm sure that's Loren on this lovely path.
Photo from Harmony in Life, Sylvania's Main Street haven.

Cardinal, Andrea Patton,
Watercolorist

My brother Loren would have been 75 years old today, November 12, but age doesn't matter a whit where he is now, on some path or another beyond the horizon. 

This is what's interesting about him being where he is. At seventy-five he still has the energy of his 63 years when he died suddenly while hiking along the Aucilla River in northern Florida. His heart gave out, but not his spirit. 

I used to call it his last hike, but now I'm not so sure. 

I think he's still hiking, traveling the world, free as a bird. Elissa was sure Loren was with us when this cardinal followed us on a path we were walking at Wildwood Metropark. That bird stopped when we stopped, followed us when we moved. "Yep, Mom, Loren's listening in." 

He's also telegraphing ideas to me. I get a compulsion to look something up, like a nagging thought. That's how I discovered the artist Andrea Patton. As it turns out, most of these nagging curiosities have to do with issues and subjects Loren himself embraced. It's kind of how telepathy works I guess.   

Andrea Patton is a wonderful artist. She's from Houston, lives in Alaska, likes to travel, to Italy, all over Europe, to Colorado and around the wonders of America the beautiful.    

When I saw Patton's vibrant painting of a Rainbow Warrior, a colorful watercolor of a Native American warrior, I knew then and there it was Loren channeling the artist, nudging me to discover her. 

Loren knew more about Native American history and culture than anyone I know. It was his life-long passion, along with his environmental activism. He did his Master's thesis at Goddard exploring social ecology and Native beliefs and culture. 

Andrea Patton, Colorado

It's Fall now, Loren's favorite season. Great time to hike. I think Loren was on this path in Colorado, painted by Patton, when our minds connected.  

It's a time when Nature takes a hike, too, leaving a bright path across America, across the world. A Ukraine fall looks like autumn in Ohio or in New England. Loren knew how much I cared about Ukraine and its people. He tells me they will triumph. I believe him.

Nature brightens before the dying of the light, Loren mused, as we were hiking at St. Marks National Wildlife Preserve near Tallahassee. "It's the way of Mother Earth."  She promises to return after her winter rest into her rebirth in Spring.  For Loren, there was no better guide to the cycles of life and death. 

He may be 75 years old, but he remains young in spirit. He is one with Mother Earth. It's where he always wanted to be. That's why I think he's still hiking.