Walking in the Zelienople Woods

By Keely Cugini, New Castle, Pennsylvania, and Patricia Liehr, Boca Raton, Florida

We connect while we walk in the Zelienople woods. Keely likes to find a walking stick … more as an aesthetic symbol of strength than for support.

Patricia likes to take photos … beginning with a photo at the entrance to the wooded path, where the sign says “Trail Entrance.” The photos document Keely’s growth from age eight to fourteen … and Patricia’s growth from a sixth to seventh decade of living.

During COVID … walks in the woods were on PAUSE … Keely lives in Pennsylvania, and Patricia lives in Florida. We had Facetime but it wasn’t the same.

You see, we do the woods walk by ourselves …just the two of us. We share secrets that come with getting older.

Keely puzzles over a hole in the mud, wondering what lives there– sometimes she pokes her walking stick to see if she can stir up the life in the hole. We pay attention to the streams we pass, and we listen to the water. Sometimes we get very wet … and air dry on the way home. __________________________________________________________________

On March 20, 2021, we had our first walk in the Zelienople woods after a year of PAUSE. We notice a huge patch of vibrant green ground cover. Patricia takes a picture and asks her 98-year old father what it is: pachysandra. It is not native … who planted it???

Keely shares her pronoun preferences. Patricia hasn’t thought about the pronouns she prefers, but she loves that Keely is decisive about pronoun choice.

Keely gently asks, “How are youuuu, grandma?”

“Keely, I am good … busy creating a new life for myself after 50+ years of everyday job responsibilities, retired almost a year now.”

The PAUSE is bigger than COVID … but, the COVID PAUSE has bred love, connection, and renewed appreciation for our time in the Zelienople woods.