~ The Walk ~

******************

I just returned from a long walk alone in the woods.
The sun was warm and caressed my face while the light breeze
danced in my hair and whispered a secret in my ear that
spring is hiding everywhere.

I say I was "alone" because that's how anyone watching would
have perceived this solitary figure foraging among winter's dried
twigs and leaves, prickly bushes and patches of ice. But I was
hardly alone! My cat joined me part way, at first darting ahead
just out of reach as though I were an intruder in her sacred
territory. But as she came to trust that my intentions were noble,
she walked closer and even brushed against my feet as we shared
the same stepping-stone or a dry clump of ground amongst the
half-frozen marsh. At one point I picked her up and she relished
in the greater view and fresher scents she could detect from
the height of my shoulders. I was tickled by her warm fur
against my face and snuggled her tight against me. I realized what a
greater perspective of the world this tiny creature offered me also.

After a while, I swung sharp left away from the drier and denser
woods, and began leaping from clump to clump amongst the marsh
grasses. At that point my cat decided that perhaps I was not as smart
as I looked.
She took the higher and drier road and left me to my madness
alone. But what kind of aloneness was this? I had my thoughts in my
heart and I held two hands as I romped along. There was the hand of
Faith, which guided me and made me fear no evil in this aloneness. IT
would show me all the goodness around me and within me and would keep
me safe in all I did. And there was your hand...the hand of Love.

I held your hand many times today. I guided you gently across
tricky patches of ice as you joined me in my pursuit of life.
I squeezed your hand tightly in quiet understanding as we smiled
together in appreciation of nature's beauty. I held you close
against me as we sat together for a while and shared the warmth of
the sunshine.

We all spoke together today, even without words.
You spoke to me of your love of life.
I told Faith of my love for you. And I told you of my love of Life.
I told my cat about both of us. Nature, overhearing and
interested by our silent conversation spoke to me and told me
of life's joy and life's pain. Faith spoke to us all and told us to
celebrate each other in Life.

I shared every joy I came across today with my cat, Faith, You, and
myself. The four of us smiled and laughed together in the sunshine
and in the fresh warm air. We walked together in each other's
unseen company although anyone would have sworn I was alone.
But if I was alone, whom was I talking to? If I was alone,
who filled my heart with so much joy?
And if I was alone, who am I sharing this with, and who
is guiding me to write it?

With Faith in our mind and love in our heart, is one ever alone?
Need one be any more than alone?

Love have so many faces..Friendship is one of the more Precious!

I celebrated Life today.

Aimee Pecile [ Mimouska ]1998/99/2000/01/02/03/04/05/06/

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