Wandering in Simplicity

Today was a beautiful day; the sun was shining and the temperature hovered above freezing. The local bicycle club to which I belong had scheduled a snowshoeing social at a nearby ski hill. The thought of getting out on my snowshoes with new friends was exciting, but I didn't want to be in a wide open space near all the skiers and snowboarders. Should I go or not? I deliberated so long that I missed the registration time and by the time I left the house, the event was already underway. Instead, I went to a small trail on a back road not too far from where I live. As soon as I strapped on my snowshoes I knew I had made a good decision. The sun shone through the trees, casting varried patterns of light and shadow on my path. The trees also protected me from the wind and as a result, I was able to enjoy the full effect of the sun's warmth. I heard only the sounds of my footsteps and breathing as I hiked along the trail, stopping occasionally to look around and enjoy the beauty of the silent forest. At times, I could hear aircraft at the airport, on hand to take part in tomorrow's one hundredth anniversary of the flight of the Silver Dart, Alexander Graham Bell's airplane and the first manned flight in the British Commonwealth. During one rumbling arrival by what must have been a military flight, I looked up to see if I could catch a glimpse of the plane. I couldn't. What I did see however, were two mature Bald Eagles, (presumably male and female) soaring in wide circles, the sun in the background. I had two cameras in my knapsack, a digital Olympus for still pictures, and a JVC digital video camera. Besides them, I have camera functions in my cell phone which was in my pocket. I could have taken still and video images of those two eagles, and shared them with the world, but as I stood there I decided to leave things as they were. I could have captured the images, but there was no way to capture the feeling, the essence of that moment. That was between the eagles and myself, and that which has created us.

~Still wandering...