Get lost

Do you ever feel like someone is watching you? Tracking your every move? Waiting for just the right moment to show themselves?

Once every seven days, the golden moondog and I venture into the woods for a romp. Whether it be for foraging or exercise or meditation, or a combination of all three, we make it a point to slather ourselves in tick repellent and find a trail to leave footprints on.

This past weekend was much like any other. Backpack ready with with foraging gear, water, snacks, dog treats and man-spray (because I choose the bear), we set out on a journey on a well worn local hiking and bike trail.

Late in the season for fiddleheads, and too early for gathering much else, we decide this hike will be primarily for running and meditation. At one point we ventured off the hiking trail and down an unmarked bike path. The forest floor glowed green with early huckleberry, and the dappled streams of sunlight through the canopy created a magical descent into the unknown.

It was then I first noticed that something was different. The birds were not chirping here. In fact, the silence was a stunning contrast to the grackles and blue jays and starlings that provided the soundtrack to our journey thus far. Two birds swooped down across the path- one, a blue jay. The other was too quick to identify. It was the way they swooped that caught my attention, and a thought came to mind that perhaps it was a warning of some kind.

I reached down to water the moondog, and upon looking up, there was a set of eyes staring back at me, not 40 yards away. A fully grown whitetail doe was standing across the path sideways, observing Luna and me. I slowly stood up, and with a quick whisper Luna sat at my feet. The doe and I locked gazes for what seemed an hour, but was in reality only about 20 seconds. She then nodded her head three times in deep bows. I returned the gesture. And then she was gone.

As wondrous and ethereal of an interaction it was, I took the warning heeded and returned back towards the hiking path.

I enjoy getting lost. It’s really the only way to find a thing, is for it to be lost. To know the way, you must first not know the way. If you think you don’t know the way, you’re correct. And if you think you know the way, you have a lot to learn.

I wonder what you would find, if you would just get lost?