Musings from Hickory Lane,  the web site of Brenda Zook, aka Hummin'B
  • Blog
  • Home
  • Quotes
  • Photos

January 10 What's to love about winter?  winter woods walking

1/10/2014

0 Comments

 
I had another idea in mind for today's post, but then we woke up to a fresh coating of snow.   I knew I needed to get out of the house for a walk, but one thing led to another; the day was slipping by fast, and I was still inside.  I kept talking to myself, kept myself moving, on track to get out the door before it was too late.  I jumped in the van to drive to the woods because I knew there wasn't time to walk TO the woods and IN the woods.  In two minutes I had parked along the road less traveled, and I was breathing deep of cold crisp mountain air, and thinking, oh, if you've never walked in the winter woods at dusk, you just haven't lived. 
Picture
The blue gray beauty is mysterious and beckoning.  The hush seeps into my soul as I walk the snow covered mountain road.  I'm alone at the moment, but there have been other travelers here, deer tracks etch a path parallel to mine, squirrels have been leaping everywhere, and rabbits have been zigzagging here half the day, according to my reading of the road.  

Picture
I hesitate as the trail forks up the mountain.  The sun is long gone; the blueness of the woods has deepened to dusky gray, but I can't resist the urge to walk just a bit further.  I'm waiting for something, hoping, longing, yearning for that certain wonder of the winter woods.  
I walk and pause, walk and pause.   Even if my wish is fulfilled I cannot take a picture for you, for I am waiting for a sound, an echo of beauty heard only in deep winter. 


I might be holding my breath when I hear it; the sound floats down the mountain on my left, carried on a breeze whisper, echoing between the bare trees and my heart, the evocative call of the great horned owl.  The sound is so haunting I wonder if it's real, and then the answer drifts through the shadows.  I wait.  One calls…pause… the other answers.  At first the pauses are about ten steps long, and I walk quickly, "quietly," toward the voices, scanning the deeply shadowed woods, hoping for a glimpse.  Today's snow is powder soft, and my steps are somewhat muffled, although I still think I sound like a very large two-footed something or other fumbling through unknown terrain. I doubt I'll be able to sneak up on anything.  The calls continue, back and forth back and forth; the pause between notes shortens until the voices sometimes overlap in a duet.  (Since I couldn't take a picture, I found this link for you: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/sounds/Owl_GreatHorned_Duet.mp3)

I keep walking toward them, and then the ghost of a winged shadow glides between the branches, up the mountain.  When I hear the call again, the low voice is far away, and I know it is time for me to turn toward home. 

I'm not afraid on the mountain at night; I haven't watched enough bad movies to make me shiver walking among trees in near darkness. The only dangers I might stumble upon would be self imposed…

getting lost ("Just walk downhill;" this one bit of advice has forever relieved my fear of losing my way on our mountains)

or spraining an ankle (which my mom did when she was about my age…but she seemed much older.  To me.  Then.)

 or falling (which I do before I reach the van, smooth ice beneath fresh snowfall, and splat, I'm dusting snow off of my camera lens and other places)  


Picture

Behind me, the owls are still calling; overhead the moon shines, ringed with light, promising…more snow. 


The night woods are still and peaceful and lovely.  



 I breath the cold air deep and hold my breath in the hush of the white snow everywhere.
 



The shining moon floats in a bowl of deep blue sky, surrounded by tree branch silhouettes, and I feel, feel the beauty of it. 




What's to love about winter?  Winter woods walking. 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I'm finding my way beyond the maze of the "middle" years
    (if I'm gonna be 100 and something someday...) 
    ​living life as a country woman who is a
     writer, gardener, wife, mom,  nature observer,  teacher,and most of all a much loved child of God.  

    Picture

    Stay Connected!

    Enter your email address for free notification of blog updates.

    Categories

    All
    Adoption
    Adventures In Going Nowhere
    Aging
    Amish
    Anne Lamott
    Anxiety
    Attentiveness
    Autism Spectrum
    Be Still
    Be Where Your Feet Are.
    Bible Study
    Birds
    Birdville
    Breakfast Club
    Buechner
    Change
    Christmas
    Clouds
    Country Life
    Creativity
    Easter
    Family
    Firefighters
    Following Jesus
    Friendship
    Garden Ponderings
    Gift Of Presence
    Grace
    Granola
    Grapenuts
    Gratitude
    Grief
    Holy Week
    Homeschool
    Hope
    Humor
    Israel Trip Reflections
    Joy
    Lessons From The Garden Of Weedin
    Life Lessons
    Marriage
    Mother Teresa
    Narnia
    Nature
    Ordinary Days
    Orphan Care
    Out The Door
    Parenting
    Pause
    Poetry
    Poverty
    Prayer
    Recipes
    Rest
    Shepherds' Meal
    Silence
    Solitude
    Songs
    Soul Stretching September
    South Africa
    South Africa
    Stand
    Stuff Management
    Sunsets
    The House
    Thursdays Are For Thankfulness.
    Time
    Tolkien
    Trees
    Trust
    Waiting
    Walking
    Weekends
    What's To Love About Winter?
    Wintergardens
    Wonder
    Woods
    Word Pondering
    Yogurt

    Counter

    Archives

    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.