Yesterday afternoon Maria, Lucas and I went on a glorious, woodland walk. The evergreens were dusted with a smattering of snow and it was cold enough that the snow on the ground beneath our feet made a satisfying crunch when we walked on it.
Half way into our walk, a great cacophony of crows caught our attention. A break in the forest canopy afforded us a head tilted view of thousands of crows flying above the treetops back to their nighttime roost across the Hillsborough River. It is a daily occurrence by our house but still a remarkable sight to me every time I stand witness to it.
A short distance onward, on a narrow evergreen lined section of trail, I sensed motion in the underbrush and sure enough, there, crouching low, was a white snowshoe hare trying to evade our attention. Instead of protection, it's white coat ensured I could see it against the backdrop of dark tree branches and falling light; an almost-winter apparition on the sparsely snow- covered forest floor.
On the drive back home in the newly fallen dark, we noted a dazzlingly bright celestial object low in the north western sky ahead of us. As we descended the hill it disappeared from our view. We tried to drive to find it but no luck. We wondered if it was the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, and we were catching it a day early but it was in the wrong location for that. Too bad today is a rainy, foggy first day of winter and not suitable for viewing anything in the night sky.
Nevertheless, trail walking on days like yesterday gives me such a sense of being rooted in something altogether ancient. Standing in the woods, my gaze cast skyward, helps me feel held by the immensity of time instead of simply lost in it. Crouching low and thinking of all the creatures who have made their way through winter's past makes me feel less alone in living during this alienating pandemic and better able to face into a winter seemingly more fraught with uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly, as the holidays approach, I am feeling nostalgic.
Nostalgia for Christmases of my childhood, and thoughts of a bright "star" this week, put me in mind of my favourite Christmas show from when I was a very little girl in the seventies. My remembrances of it were so vague that I often wondered if the show really existed. Last December I decided I would try to find it online and see if there ever was a cozy show about a turkey, a little boy on a farm, a dramatic rescue and three aliens who came from afar in their space ship. It turns out that the turkey was a pet goose named Lucy but otherwise my memories were bang on. The farm reminds me of my maternal grandparents' place at Christmastime when I was young.
Wishing you a sense of comfort this first day of Winter.
Happy Solstice 2020 and hope you have a totally Cosmic Christmas!
It will be a strange one for sure!
Be well,
Jill
What is the name of the Christmas cartoon? I lived it so much! Thank you for the lovely entry ❤💚 Merry Christmas!
so nice, Jill- you draw lovely pictures...ma xxxooo