Shy Animals

How lucky to see a fox with a lustrous golden coat napping under a tree. When he awakened, he looked at me without fear, only curiousity. It occurs to me that there is always life, seen or unseen. In the winter landscape, life is evasive. Morning walks yield the bare knuckles of brush and tree branches. The occasional pine seems overshadowed by bare and reaching oak and ash. I strayed from the path, finding bridges, stone walls, and sometimes just the sign of an animal who has a kind of comfort with the woods that I will never have. Instead I look for ways to describe the stillness and the hidden pulse of life just ahead of me.

Vermont in late December

Shadows and Promises

The snow covered everything. Tiny bushes were adorned. It was too icy to ski and so we walked in a state park in Vermont. A promised Nature Center never appeared though we walked up and up a path with a steep incline that narrowed and then disappeared. We imagined that perhaps the trail itself was a nature center or that an overzealous park ranger created the signs to inspire the less ambitious hikers to stretch and log more miles. It was the warmest day of the week. When the biting cold moved in, recreation became an indoor adventure. Still I strive to understand what I might learn from the shadows of sunlight on snow and the promises of a vista that never appears. The Green Mountains rose all around us and the air was cold and clear. I felt a sense of unrest; almost like foreboding. I know the upcoming year will bring many changes. I can feel it in my bones. When the restlessness settles over me, I must put one foot in front of the other and keep walking. I know there will be a clearing and whatever is supposed to happen will present itself, perhaps up a steep incline or maybe around the corner.