The morning sun is too bright, my sunglasses too scratched, the windshield too pitted and the driver in front of me far too slow. Noticing my odometer, there are too many miles. I catch a glimpse of myself in the rear view mirror and see way too many wrinkles and, God forbid, too many white/gray hairs.
The highway is too bumpy and the radio plays too hard of some mega-death nonsense song. I smell too much diesel exhaust from a trucker and my middle finger is way too small as I "wave" to someone who "waved" at me first.
Exiting the highway, the ramp is too full of traffic and no one knows how to properly merge onto the next street. I finally make it to the trail head parking lot and someone is already in my parking space. I exhale hard, hoping to blow some of the bad out of my system and take a relaxing sip from my water bottle. Wouldn't you know it...the water is too wet!
Disgusted with myself for being in such a sour mood, I force myself to cinch up shoelaces and stuff ear buds deep to seal outside noises from penetrating and invading my precious therapy.
The new play list thunders loud and, finally, I crack a warm smile from clever lyrics that take me running beside a treasured virtual pacer.
The entire time preparing to hit the trail was spent bitchin' at myself and listing all kinds of reasons why I should have stayed home. I fully recognize the intrinsic value of getting my body in motion, being out with nature and simply letting my mind wander wherever it wants to go. So, I was thankful that I persevered. The cleansing had begun with each deep breath, each heart beat and each step along the trail.
Noticing magpies perched nearby, I immediately glance around. They could be simply resting and swapping lies with each other or, maybe, they are hazing a predator, eagerly anticipating their transformation into pain-in-the-ass, annoying scavengers. A small tuft of white fur draws my attention as it disappears into the brush..
I whip out my phone, silence the music, and flick on the camera as I stalk the silent hunter through the brush.
Ever so briefly, it appears and I hope my camera captures the moment.
At best, it's a very poor picture. But, hopefully it depicts how I'm at the west end of a eastbound bobcat who is looking to his left. He quickly vaporized into the environment.
Thank you Mr. Bobcat, you provided the attitude adjustment I needed. Everything I was griping about instantly became trivial and, once again, the dirty trail succeeds being top therapist!
No comments:
Post a Comment