Waukau, shoes, and friendship

     Norma Miller and I met at Seymour High School at the eighth grade introduction to the school when I was fourteen and she was thirteen.  We were in the eighth grade at two different one room schools about four miles away, yet we had never run into each other.  She was my first true friend, a bright girl with interests similar to mine.  There was a track meet going on but we just began to talk and talk and talk. 
     We've been BFs every since. Even when we went to separate colleges, we kept in touch and so it has been all these years.  
     These days, Norma lives in Chicago, but she occasionally comes to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to visit her mother and I inevitably drive down there so we can have a catch-up chat.   
     Today was such a day.  I picked up Norma and her husband Rich for a hike into spring.  She read something about the Waukau Nature Preserve west of Oshkosh.  I had never heard of it but I was willing to give it a try. 
     Using my hit or miss navigation system I call zen driving, we found the village of Waukau and soon after the Waukau dam.  We wandered around that area for a while passing over bridges, looking at falling water, smelling dead carp on the shore, and watching clouds drift by.  However, this wasn't the preserve we were looking for, so we asked directions from some other wanderers. 
     True to form, we missed a turn and ended up in a bar in yet another village, Eureka.  This time we got better directions from the fish fry patrons and found the nature area.  
     We followed the path, climbed down a bank, photographed wildflowers, especially a white kind of trout lily.  We found bloodroot, too and even a patch of that shy spring flower, the hepatica.  
     Norma and I remembered breaking open the stems of the bloodroot and painting ourselves with the red sap.  Rich, a city boy, never heard of that.  These days, the flowers are protected.  We were satisfied with photographing them.    

     We worked our way over muddy spots and kept going until I ran into a branch. 
     A head wound bleeds profusely, so holding napkin Rich supplied to my forehead I worked my way back up the bank to the car and the first aid kit New Zealander Liz Miller gave me years ago.  It had what I needed but I realized I would have to replenish my stock of medical supplies before mid-June. 
     We returned to Oshkosh for lunch and shoe shopping, sharing a BOGO at the Payless Shoe Store.  We checked out a dollar store for items useful to travelers.   Norma gave me some seeds to plant in my garden. 
     And we talked and talked and talked. 
     Until the next visit, dear friend.