Much like the dedicated men and women at the USPS, i persevere regardless of the weather. Snow…you know it, falling flakes are my favorite. Rain….yep, i’m out there splashing in the puddles. Heat…well, i don’t love it, but i will use the rising mercury as an excuse to swim if i can. Gloom of night…surely, i am always up for a midnight stroll despite my lingering low-level fear of the dark. None of these conditions prevent me from my appointed rounds of frivolity and fun. I love a good walk.
Not only do i love a good walk, i also love meeting other adventurous souls on the trail. As soon as we pull in and park at a trail head, i check out the cars already there. While mom and dad gather their gear, i take a moment to look at the license plates….i love out-of-staters and marvel at what brought them to my neck of the woods! While mom and dad grab our leashes, i scan the scene and read the bumper-stickers…i love a good cause. When we take our first steps, i sniff the tires and try to guess who we might find in front of us…i love everyone.
Such excitement and anticipation!
In the past, i have written about the many documented joys of my jaunts…taking in the scenery, taking a moment with my thoughts, taking along a mouthful of chestnuts, taking a jog after a squirrel, taking a bark up the wrong tree…but i don’t think i have ever mentioned the timeless truths to be found in taking the time to consider the other adventurous souls on the trail.
Not actually the souls, but as i realized this weekend, the soles!
As we wandered down the snow and ice-covered Paulinskill on Saturday morning…a trail i have walked a hundred times before…i flounced along with my typical flair. I would be lying if i said there was anything out of the ordinary. I sniffed, i peed, i pooped, i ran, and a lovely time was had by all. I grabbed a stick, stepped on a nut, took off after a mirage, and a lovely time was had by all. I passed another dog, said hello to a lady, looked sideways at a guy, and a lovely time was had by all. I would be lying if i said there was anything out of the ordinary.
Until we stopped. There was no one else on the trail for a far as i could see, so we paused in our path and stopped…just sat there…in the snow…and the cold…and with the quiet surrounding me, i had a moment.
On the trail—that i have walked a hundred times before—i suddenly saw footprints everywhere. People prints. Pet prints. Passing wildlife prints. Prints. Prints. Prints.
It had snowed recently, and then iced, and then melted, and then frozen again, and the result of the wonky weather was the temporarily permanent imprints of the soul’s soles who had walked the same way as me some time in the last twenty-four hours.
Canine consciousness blown!
Who were these people and pets? Where was this wildlife? What? Why? When? How? I had been on the trail for an hour, but i had only passed two people…how could there be so many prints?!?
Perhaps we share our progress with passersby we never spy!
I got up from where i had stopped and peered toward town to see what i could learn, then i took a whiff of some prints to see if i could get a sense of who shared my journey, then i looked back to where we came from to see what the past might tell me.
The answer is nothing. I could not ascertain the age or gender or hair color or mailing address or phone number or favorite color or favorite food or hobby or temperament or history or future or birthday or education or best friend or enemy or opinion or email or bank account or sleeping habits or reading level or musical preference or blood type or, well, or anything. (i could probably have made a measured guess at shoe size, but you get my point)
I could not gather anything from the prints made, melted, and molded in the snow we shared…and therein was the magic of the moment because it dawned on me that none of those numbers or markers mattered.
What mattered most was even more amazing.
Do you know what it was?
i’m a dog, i love life, and i have flaws. i’m perfect. imperfect. Just. Like. You.