Wednesday, March 29, 2017

If Only For A Little While...

 I begin my journey through the dark down a scarcely traveled trail but the rising sun soon greets me as a narrow sliver of purple light appears at the horizon and slowly becomes shades of orange and red. I take it all in as I know this moment will last only for a little while.

The sun breaches the horizon and brings life to all that calls this patch of trees along a remote river bank home. Birds sing as the morning dew weighs down the few blades of grass that have managed to sprout to life under a protective canopy of cedars and oaks. Squirrels play tag among their limbs and only stop for a moment to chatter in showing that they are aware of my presence. Even the smallest visible living things seem to greet the new day as tiny flowers begin to bloom from the  damp earth below the trees. I take it all in as I know this moment will last only for a little while.

Slowly I creep into a clear shallow stream that runs over smooth round river rock beneath my feet. The gentle ripple of the slow moving river is the only sound to be heard. Sunfish jolt from the stones they have been using as ambush points for their prey of small minnows and bugs floating on the surface of the water as my steps spook them. I can just make out the silhouette of a bass who is no doubt making the frightened sunfish her meal. This is my prey. Gently I place a cast just in front of her nose and the fish cautiously approaches my fly. A sniff and a turn of the head and she is gone ignoring my presentation. This task is repeated hundreds of times through the day. Some are fooled by the bits of plastic, feathers and fur I have prepared for them, most are not. I take it all in as I know this moment will last only for a little while.
 
   As I exit the cool clear water of the gently flowing river I reflect on how fortunate I am to have spent these precious hours taking in all that is in this moment. Back through the trees I wonder finding perhaps the same squirrels that had been so active that morning now moving a little slower with the sun beginning to set. The setting sun is near blinding as I pass the tree line and find my truck just where and how I had left it many hours ago. I stop for a moment and turn back to see the path I had just hiked wondering when I may be fortunate enough to return. I take it all in as I know this moment will last only for a little while....

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