The Monday following Thanksgiving, I had meant only to walk just to the barn and back before heading off to work, but the morning was so brisk and bright, I went on to the meadow and then beyond to the pond before turning back. I planned to gather that lovely large paper wasp’s nest I had seen beside the path but someone got there first. The recompense: air like peppermint in my mouth and against my teeth, sun clearing the ridge warming the freeze hollowed earth crust and chasing the wind up the mountain, the applause of the trees growing more and more distant as I walked homeward beside my youngest son.
Nov. 26, 2012
Ruminations 