A Walk in the Woods

As I was driving home this morning after dropping G & D off at school, I could just feel all the tenseness of too much anxious thinking and too little movement humming through my body.  And so before heading inside, I grabbed my camera and headed the opposite way on the path into the woods.  I've been reminded a number of times lately how good for the spirit the outdoors is, and this was another confirmation.

I came across so many tracks - rabbits and deer, at least, those being the only ones I know how to identify.  Mostly they cut through in purposeful lines, but in a few places, several rabbit tracks converged into a snowy muddle, and it makes me smile to think about the rabbit play that ensued.

Almost halfway along the path I came to a sight I wondered if and hoped I would see: a large oval impression in the snow where a deer had curled up to sleep.  And just a short way further, two more, cozied up together.  Simple, but these discoveries raised my spirits: a glimpse into a secret and beautiful world.

Later, before the dinnerbedtime rush, I told the boys to grab their coats and boots and out we went, no camera, snow dusting our pants legs, air fresh and cold.  I loved sharing my discovery with them, and was so thrilled that they figured out what these impressions were.  Then they ran ahead laughing and I walked behind, holding all of it in my heart, and waited for them as they ran around the loop again; them giddy and proud of their aloneness in the woods, me smiling and watching for their return.