“I'm a slow walker, but I never walk back.” Abraham Lincoln
Yesterday I skipped work and went for a Spring hike. Such a satisfying feeling, walking in a T-shirt with the hot sun on my back and my boots in a foot of untouched snow.
As I reach the top of the hill I hear my heart pounding. I stop to listen for the sound of a distant waterfall but it is not there – must still be frozen. I hear the slight russelling trees, look up and see last falls dead leaves still hanging from the trees, as a slight breeze is brushing agents them they look like Christmas ornaments someone forget to take down. I hear movement by my feet and catch sight of a tiny grey field mouse scarring beneath the brown fallen leaves.
I continue on the trail over patches of not yet melted snow – around a curve in the trail I can see the still frozen Island Pond – my 1/4 way landmark. I stop to sit, listen to the exiting stream run away and I have a snack. The gentle wind on my cheeks and side feel like the touch of my wife. The warmth of the Sun on my face reminds me why I love her.
Ahead on the trail, as I approach the Lemon Squeezer a herd of white tail deer dash silently through the woods. The clumsy noise of my boots has frightened them. Oaf! I must sound like a Sherman tank to them. I stand and the silence engulfs me.
A few hours later, this young deer walks right up to me. I was lucky enough to remember my flop and took this short video:
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Now, was your heart pounding because you were anxious someone would find out you skipped work, or was it the exertion of going up a hill or the anticipation of seeing wildlife? That deer is amazing! You must have felt so alive. Nature does that to me too. It's kind of a sensory overload with the twigs crunching beneath my feet, birds chirping, wind blowing, colours flying.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. Maybe a good hike will cure what ails me.
I think it was all three. Get out there whenever you can. Enjoy yourself Ashley.
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