Reflection of the Day 3 June 12, 2009

The clouds are a dark bluish gray. Carl Sandburg’s house serenely sits just above the hill semi circled by a mass of oddly shaped evergreen trees. The north wind sends a potent smell of fish into my nostrils reminding me of our families camping trip just weeks ago. Consequently, my eyes wonder to the lake in search of signs of life below. There’s a tricolored healthy goose gracefully swimming by. I imagine his nature- he’s not worried, afraid, sad, hungry, or even bored. My eyes follow him until he’s completely out of sight and now I feel a sense of loneliness. Suddenly, a small head protrudes out of the brownish liquid, ten feet away from my location. The rest of its body becomes visible as she moves closer to land. It’s a mother Snapping Turtle, going to deliver her eggs in a grassy area on the side of the bank. After hatching the golf ball sized eggs, the turtle cautiously covers them, and proceeds back into the water appearing almost camouflaged the further she glides out of sight. The dark, heap of clouds are just above my head now. The ferrous wind thrusts its massive hand upon my shoulders and hair. Finally, the wind’s force abates as the sun gradually projects out of the clouds.
My thoughts abandon nature just for a moment to revisit Carl Sandburg’s home. I try to imagine his life here- to be completely immersed around this glorious mass of nature –to awaken to magnificent mountains dressed in an array of uniquely shaped silky, white clouds. Out of no where, the goose that had deserted me earlier has returned. Approximately seven feet from where I write, my plump feathered friend vigorously plucks at his feathers. Abruptly interrupted by a small yet menacing, brown spider, I quickly flick it to its natural habitat, the ground. I try to regain my previous thoughts, when I notice that the goose, unalarmed by my sudden movements, continued to groom himself. I return to my zone again without a care in the world- at least for the moment. The goose and I have become one with nature as we gaze beyond the lake, the clouds, and the trees. Maybe this is simply a snapshot of what is to come in paradise.