Day 330 Alas, Deer Yorick

November 4, 2015

(If we live with an open and grateful attitude, every day will bring a gift. This is one of 365 gifts during the year I turned 70.)

A few deer bones among the fallen leaves

It seemed a waste not to go walking outdoors on a day like today, so David and I set out from our house to a few blocks away where we could enter a heavily wooded area, Anne Arundel County property managed by the Department of Natural Resources. There was a warning sign posted that it would not be safe to enter on a few particular days where there would be open hunting to help control the deer population. I am glad that today was not one of the posted days. 

Today we noticed that what used to be visible paths a few years ago no longer existed. There has always been an absence of trail blaze markers and this time we encountered lots of fallen tree parts, sticker bushes and even mushrooms growing on what used to be a trail. We explored with an eye to the topography and sun position. 

We stopped to examine what appeared to be the remains of a deer, dry white bones picked clean long ago.  In our neighborhood “wild woods,” we walked to the sound of crunching leaves and only a few remaining crickets. “Stop and listen,” David urged. We stood still and heard the delicate sound of leaves falling all around us. Our adventure today—the bones, crunching leaves and diminishing daylight—was a reminder of temporal days and ever-changing time. We could hear the falling leaves today but in the next season, we will listen to the falling snow.

My gift today is the sound of falling leaves.

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You can find links to my other posts on this project here:
http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html