Lindsay Warnock
Nature Girl, December 2020 Voice, Piano, Film
There was a boy
A very strange enchanted boy
They say he wandered very far, very far Over land and sea
A little shy and sad of eye
But very wise was he
And then one day
One magic day he passed my way And while we spoke of many things Fools and kings
This he said to me
The greatest thing you'll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return
Nature Boy by Nat King Cole
I feel like since the first time I heard these words, I have been patiently waiting for the Nature Boy to pass my way. It’s the feeling of waiting for Santa Claus, or your letter from Hogwarts, or standing on a balcony staring up at the second star to the right and silently reassuring Peter Pan to come down so you can tell him that you are ready to go to Neverland and never grow up.
But the years of waiting had begun to take its toll on me. No longer was I the bleary-eyed child filled with joy, wonder and hope. I was tired, impatient, and alone.
Until recently.
What feels like a moment ago, a path came before me that hadn’t been there before. Perhaps it was there all along and I never noticed it, for I was staring at the sky for something that never came.
Regardless, I had noticed it now.
It looked long and winding but at the same time inviting. I started down the path, and the more I travelled, the lighter I became. The more I began to float down the path to a destination not yet clear, but in no way terrifying. There was no one else on this path, yet for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel alone. The feeling of hopelessly waiting had given way to adventure and action. I knew there was no turning back, but I had no intent to do so anyway.
When in the distance, a figure appeared on the path. Standing. Waiting. Waiting for me.
The closer I got, the more I recognized her, the faster I wanted to get to her. But I couldn’t go faster. I was going at a pace that allowed me to look around and see what passed along the way.
To see the beauty of it all.
As much as I knew what was coming, and had the whole journey to prepare myself to finally, be home with my Nature Girl, to hear the words I’ve known all along; it still stunned me to see her turn her head. She was real. She wasn’t lost or had forgotten me. She wasn’t a fantasy. She was here and she loved me.
And I loved her in return.
Lindsay Warnock is a Jessie-Award winning actor, singer, musician, composer, and sportscaster based in Vancouver, BC. She holds a Bachelor of Performing Arts with a Diploma in Musical Theatre from Capilano University. She is also a trained pianist and composer who has not only music-directed and composed for companies such as CircusWest, Studio58 and Arts Club Theatre, but also composed her first hour-long contemporary ballet called In Colour that was produced mere months after graduation.
Since then, she has been performing professionally onstage for theatre companies across Canada. Her select theatre credits include Kw’a’tel in Th’owxiya the Hungry Feast Dish (Axis Theatre), Deb in Elf the Musical (Persephone Theatre), April in Company (Raincity Theatre), Mary Lou Sokoloff in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (The Globe Theatre), Charlotte in A Little Night Music (Gateway Theatre), The Student in Arts Club’s Godspell, Lydia Bennett in Pride and Prejudice (Chemainus Theatre Festival) and Princess Fiona in Theatre Under the Stars’ Shrek the Musical.
When she’s not teaching or onstage, you can see her as Head MC of The World Famous Grouse Mountain Lumberjack Show where she has performed over 1200 shows. It was there that she was introduced to the world of Loggersports and now she can be seen on TV travelling across Canada and the world as the Host of TSN’s STIHL TIMBERSPORTS.