Gratitude Monday - Wild Memories

Coyote and buffalo. Please click to enlarge.

Our Christmas drive yielded many great sights including coyotes. We see them from time to time. It's a treat, though not really a rare one.

We sometime hear their mournful howls in the night here in town. I've grown to enjoy their singing as it reminds me the wilderness is just a short walk outside my door.

Back when I was growing up we had forest all around us and it was filled with all the critters one would expect. We heard and occasionally saw coyotes, timberwolves, moose, deer, lynx, and bear. The sad longing song of the coyote filled many a night and punctuated cold clear winter days. It scared me then.

Today it simply reminds me of a former wild abundance.

I'm grateful to have been surrounded by the creatures of the wood, and today I am grateful when I see them again.

Gratitude Monday: The Wild Dogs Are With Me

The forest on the western edge of town.



I saw a fox yesterday when I went out for a mid-afternoon walk. A red fox lives in the forest at the edge of town and I've seen it from time to time, usually in the evenings.
I thought it was unusual to see it out and about in the day like that, but I don’t know much vulpine lore. It may have been out for its afternoon constitutional, just like me.

It saw me as I saw it. We were both headed southbound so it turned its head to me. For about two full seconds I had a wonderful full side view. I saw its red coat and its dark bushy tail.
I knew better than to move. Sudden movements scare forest critters away. That’s the last thing I wished to do.
It gave me a casual, if guarded, look and went on its way.

I was grateful for our moment together. It reminded me that I live on the edge of a town cut out of bush. Around me I have trees and muskeg, even some fields. A river borders the west.

I’m thankful for the convenience of town and the closeness of the wild. Some mornings, when I am out early enough, I hear the coyotes singing to the moon.

I grew up with this sound. Howls can be eerie and they made me shiver. It scared me then, but I miss it now. I’m glad I get to hear it now and again, and I’m grateful the wild dogs are still with me.