A Simple Stroll

Each day as part of my morning routine, I go to my mediation room and perform my own little spiritual service. One of my readings comes from my Daily Guidance from your Angels written by Doreen Virtue. These are inspirational little words of encouragement that always seem to brighten my day. Today's message was to celebrate the surroundings and go for a stroll, in an attempt to commune with nature and open up one's heart. It's still a little chilly, especially with the wind chill, but I decided to bundle up and stroll, and experience. My first encounter was with a trio of squawking crows, who were noisily chasing a red tailed hawk. I watched as the nervy black birds chased and dive bombed the graceful predator and wondered what the "bad boy" did to deserve such a chasing. Soon after, another hawk appeared and the crows flew away. I continued to watch as the two hawks were joined by two turkey buzzards, and the foursome flew high into the air and began circling in the currents. It never occurred to me that these two species could play together. Next, as I strolled along, I noticed someone's yard was a-buzz with all these flying insects that stayed low to the ground. On further inspection, they looked liked bees, but were flying in and out of little mounded holes in the ground. Knowing that bees usually congregate and live in hives, I wondered if these "bees" were actually mud wasps or hornets (something for me to look up on the web later). Walking further along at a slow and leisurely pace, I experienced the faint smell of smoke. At first it reminded me of the smell of leaves burning in the streets after a fall raking (which was allowed when I was little) and it was a nice memory. But then I remembered the smell of smoke after a small house fire we experienced last year, and the memory changed from pleasant to worrisome. On the local news today, I recalled a high fire warning due to the low humidity and winds, which was an unusual warning for our area. I hoped that what I smelled was someone's fireplace or coal burning stove, and not a dreaded disaster. As I continued with my leisurely stroll, I noticed everything I could take in with my senses and felt a calm peace as I wondered and watched my thoughts. As the wind blew my hair around my face, in the same way it blew the branches of the pine trees high in the air, I felt connected... and contented just to be.