Morning Walks

I have recently become a remote tele-commuter and I work out of my home. I am still new to this and I found that I was having difficulty staying awake around mid-morning. My wife suggested that I take a morning walk to wake me up before I start work. Well, this post is about my walk this morning.

When I stepped outside this morning, it was still quite chilly and I had my camo jacket and camo hat on. I zipped up my jacket all the way and started off the back deck. As I walked down the gravel driveway, our coon hound Millie got up from a nap and started walking with me. We walked past the front of the house and headed toward the back of the farm.

Millie would walk ahead and frequently stop and look back. Such is the nature of a dog and a mystery why God created such an animal and friend of man. She was never far from me. Her nose was in constant motion as she sniffed out things that I did not know were there. She would criss-cross my path and go bounding into the woods after something she flushed out.

I continued across the creek and into a well overgrown field. We plan on renovating this field for use as a pasture and I just wanted to take a look. After I walked to the middle of it, I was in chest high briars and brambles. I had not seen Millie for about 10 minutes. As I started down the hill toward the creek again, there she was.

Exiting the field was as dangerous as entering it with all the briars and undergrowth. But soon I was in the woods again, heading back toward the creek. I crossed the first fork of this little creek and stopped in the middle of a clearing. I could hear the rustle of leaves everywhere and hear so many different bird calls I could not identify very many of them.

A little further on and I heard the barking of many squirrels and more birds. I stood there in my own silence listening to the hustle and bustle of woodland life going on around me. I would have stayed there for hours except I was supposed to be starting work soon. So I reluctantly started back toward the house. Step by step I listened intently to the sounds around me and crossed the second fork of the creek.

I had been treated to a woodland symphony with no meter and no key. What would seem to many as disorganized and sporadic calls and chirps, to me was a composition by the One who created it all. No melody to hum, no beat to tap a foot to, but a music that reaches directly to the soul.

I finally got back to the house and rejoined the world. I took my shower, powered up my computer, and went to work. But in my head I heard the birds and squirrels singing their part of the grand score.

I like these morning walks. Today is a good day.


Copyright 2006, Kevin Farley (a.k.a. sixdrift, a.k.a. neuronstatic)