Morning Walk

Early this morning at day break, I took my dog for a walk. The sky was thick with gray clouds and the morning had a desolate feel to it. As we crossed over a set of railroad tracks, I spotted a pile of deer feed. Some deer are not afraid of trains; more than once, I've seen the carcass of deer that didn't move out of the way in time from an oncoming train.

Due to the way the pile of feed was situated, there was little doubt it had been deliberate. With the heel of my boot, I scraped as much as I could off the icy tracks, angry at the malicious sense of humor somebody had.

That done, my dog and I continued on to an area that has several sand piles. Those piles give him exercise that I'm unable to do. He has to force himself to climb without sliding back down. It also makes him stronger; the stronger he is, the more he is able to brace if I fall.

As he raced around the area, I stood, hands in coat pockets thinking about the deer feed in the middle of the tracks and of how dismal the day looked.

Shortly after our arrival at the sand piles, I heard the first call of a coyote. Others quickly joined in. The haunting melody enhanced the sadness I felt. Perhaps my sadness stemmed from a friend telling me about the dead twin fawns she found by her house yesterday or perhaps it was just how flat and colorless the world looked to me. Perhaps it was simply my reaction to the cruelty that some people have, their disregard for life, animals and humans alike.

On our way back home, I stopped once more at the tracks to scrape more of the sweet corn into a field. That done, we headed back home, greeted by several song birds singing to one another - another reminder that while some aspects of life may be bleak, there are others that have the ability to balance it out.