What it’s like going out to a bird survey station in the late Fall before the sun comes up.
It’s DARK !
It’s quiet.
It’s cold.
There’s the sound of the frosted grass crunching under your feet as you walk up the hill.
It’s the frosty haze from your breath.
It’s your heart beat as the loudest thing you can hear.
It’s thinking that your backpack is too heavy with too much stuff.
It’s passing the old family cemetery.
It’s stumbling on a root that you’ve stepped over 1,000 time before.
It’s the little bird flying up in front of you as you pass its roosting place in the grass.
It’s your heart rate speeding up.
It’s stopping and standing and listening and hearing the exhale of the Earth.
It’s seeing Venus brighter than you’ve ever seen her.
It’s losing the path and stopping to try to find your way.
It’s finding the path.
It’s thinking that you hear something.
It’s reaching the summit.
And it’s setting down your chair – and sitting in it.
It’s relaxing to the point of being in the dark like everything around you.
It’s looking up and seeing stars you can’t see from your house.
It’s your heart rate slowing down.
It’s knowing that no one else is out there – it’s just you.
It’s recognizing Orion and Spica in Virgo.
It’s having a cup of hot coffee from the thermos you carried in your back pack.
It’s hearing a night hawk close by.
It’s sitting quietly and watching the eastern sky brighten as dawn comes.
It’s waiting – for what you’re not sure.
It’s seeing a deer cross the top of the distant hill.
It’s seeing a fox come out of the underbrush and look at you.
It’s wondering what the fox may think.
It’s seeing the hill and the woods go from grays to the golden browns and reds of the Fall.
It’s knowing that the persimmons can be eaten – if you can find them.
It’s hearing the first bird sing out – and an answer.
It’s recognizing the bird song from your youth.
It’s thinking about what you need to do that day.
It’s the excitement of hearing the bird call you are seeking.
It’s seeing the sun come up.
It’s realizing that what you’re doing now is as good as it gets.
It’s lingering in the early light.
It’s walking down the hill in the morning sun.
It’s saying a prayer for the whole world on a frosty morning.