A moment In a Day
Red-tailed hawk looks down from her perch atop the skeletal oak. She fluffs her feathers and preens a bit. The day is beginning and it’s time to eat. The white landscape below is fresh and wind-blown. Finding prey today will be a challenge. She opens her wide wings and lifts off into the airy blue sky. Scattered thermals lift her up and carry her over the wide prairie. Coming closer to the earth, she looks for movement. Any shifting in the snow could signal the possibility of a meal. Rodents have snow cover to protect them now. If only one would show itself…
Weasel runs along the snowy log, pauses and sniffs the air. He is tired after a night of hunting. His slim body has allowed him to burrow under snow into a rodent tunnel in search of a meal. His hunger, ever present, makes him a voracious hunter. His efforts this night have brought him a fat vole to eat with leftovers to take home. When he reaches his den deep under the roots of a dead pine, he will cache what is left of his meal and then wrap himself into his bed of fur and grass for a well-deserved rest.
Deer looks out from under the pine boughs on a crystalline white world. The snow is not so deep that travel will be hard and the insulation it provides will make sleeping just a little more comfortable. She and her two young rise from their beds and take tentative steps from under the protection of the trees. Sensing no threat, they trot toward a thicket of young dogwood shrubs, their breath turning white as they exhale. The tender twigs and branches are within their reach; it is a tasty breakfast indeed. Chewing delicately, they flick their ears constantly, alert to any danger headed their way. A branch breaks nearby; they lift their heads and smell the air. Do they need to run? The twilight hides them well as they watch two hikers pass by on the trail. The people fade into the distance; the deer nuzzle each other and move on.
I wake from a restful sleep at 4:45 am. I brush my teeth, turn up the heat and prepare the coffee. While it is perking, I step outside. The dark is delicious. It’s cold. My breath comes out as a steamy white cloud. It is quiet but not silent. The wind graces its way through the spruce branches above me. A soft shhh shhh sound is all that I hear. My face begins to feel cold, so I turn and go back into my cozy, warm house. The coffee is ready. My day has begun.
Food for thought:
The seasons have turned and winter has arrived. It can be a harsh time for critters in the wild. As we go about our daily routines, coming and going from home to work to shopping to errands, and the weather makes life challenging, I encourage you to pause and give a thought to those wild creatures, who despite the cold and dark, the wind and the snow, continue to survive and even thrive. This brings a smile to my face and hope to my heart. In this quiet season I hope for you to find peace and hope in the natural world.
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Photo credits: “red-tailed hawk” by qmnonic is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
“Long-tailed weasel“, USFWS, Public Domain
“White-tailed deer in the snow“, Courtney Celley/USFWS, Public Domain
