Meanderings

I wanted to walk in the woods today, but it was the last day of hunting and I wasn’t sure I liked walking out there when I could here bang-bang-bang all around us. Instead I wandered through the pine trees that surround my home. Behind the garage use to be a tall stand of pines. There was a fire there a few years ago killing off several of the tall trees; softwood trees and berries grow there now. I pushed my way up through the briars and branches and chipped the ice off of a log so that I could sit and listen to the sounds.

The sound of wind was much louder than I expected. I did not notice the wind at all until I took the time to listen to it whistling through the trees. A bird cried out once and then was silent. A truck passed by below on one of the farm roads. I had tried to escape from the house undetected, but Betelgeuse (pronounced Beetle Juice) saw me and followed. He crawled around on the slippery log purring and mewing. He rubbed his soft body against my legs and tried to gain possession of my pencil as it wiggled in my hand. Then he attempted to climb the head of the windmill that lay upon the ground but found it hard to keep his balance on the icy metal.

I wandered across the yard and into the stand of pines that line our lane. Here the trees are tall and block the sun so that nothing but pine needles fill the ground between them. A cow spied me as I picked my way through the branches of a fallen tree and it was obvious that she did not trust anyone who wandered through those normally empty pines. I turned and came up behind the house; the cats on the deck saw a big blue coat and a hood-covered head approaching and they ran, spooked by the unknown, until I called out to reassure them. I hung my coat on the hooks and warmed my fingers and toes by the woodstove.

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My daughter is sewing a long, pink nightgown with a big ruffle around the hem. She wants to take this to Denver with her, so she is not quite ready for her trip. She will set it aside when she gets home and keep it for the 4-H Clothing Revue and the fairs.

Merry 10^th Day of Christmas!