Come...walk with me

I wandered our back forest for a few hours today.  Before heading out, one of my Momma deer and her twins stopped by for breakfast.  (See extra.) Last night, there were 8 out on our side field.  My love says I'm a deer whisperer. :)
 
I headed out taking a different trail than I usually do and then found new trails. I found myself following a slower pace and stopped often to close my eyes and listen...smell and inhale.

I heard the groaning of trees and the wind as it whistled its way through aspen leaves not yet letting go.  I discovered hidden places where the grasses lay flat realizing I'd found where the deer bed down.  I studied the various animal tracks and spoke to the birds as they flew to branches above curiously watching me.  I stepped around mushrooms and looked up at the blue sky peeking through the shroud of evergreens.  I delighted in Autumns palette and chuckled at the gold grasses looking as if they needed haircuts.  I stood in one spot and slowly spun around in a circle taking in every view.  I studied the various trees more with wonder not needing to know each ones name.    

I love the forest and it's shadows.  The darkness that waits in hiding until the light hits if even just for a moment.    

As I made my way back to the house I was filled with such a deep sense of gratitude and the realization that I now get to do this...every single day.  Wow.