Carol Mackay Mertz

I had a fanciful thought on my walk today as I wove in and out of the shadows of the forest. Memories came back to me of what had been before in that very same spot along my walk. There was the slow moving silent blackness of a bear coming up out of the woods. He was so much a part of the forest that we did not see him immediately, just noticed a shadow moving.

On the same place on my walk about five years ago, there was a snake curled up in the shadow of some rocks near the road. I did not see it until I was almost upon it. It wasn’t moving, and as I got closer, I could see it was a copperhead…alive or dead I did not know.

Shadows can be homes for all kinds of creatures. Shadows can leap out at you, when you least expect it making everyday life a true adventure.

While our grandchildren were here recently, we all read a delightful book to them called, “We’re going on a Bear Hunt. “ The repetitive first phrase was,

WE’RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY

WE’RE GOING TO CATCH A BIG ONE

OH NO, …and then they would have to cross a field of grass, or a stream, or a dark spooky wood. The family in the story had a lot of unexpected adventures which challenged them, and in the challenge they met it head on. I won’t spoil the ending for you.

We had a lot of fun with the book and after several days of reading it and having the first phrase rattling around in my head, I would suddenly whisper to one of the boys, “WE’RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY….” and then the boys would groan and say, NOOOOO, and we would all laugh.

So on these beautiful clear sky days when the air is clear and the grass is green I find myself saying, “WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!” But I say it with the particular cadence that I said it when I read the book to the boys. I smile and think of my grandchildren and of the real life adventures a simple walk in the countryside has in store. Shadows leaping out at you with surprise after surprise. The sun is shining it’s white light and there is a sense of joy in the nether world between light and dark.

What a beautiful day!