In this week's episode, notes from Bill Felker's 40 years of observing what happens in nature.
Bill Felker: Many years ago, I took our two bulldogs out for a walk in the woods along the river. It had snowed a few more inches overnight for a total of several feet in some places, and we were the first to navigate the path. The dogs worked their way through the high snow. The puppy, six months old, breaking trail with his chest, and the older bulldog invigorated by the cold, ranged on ahead, leaping fallen trees and then racing back from time to time for reassurance and to check the puppy.
Then, at the end of the river, suddenly, there was a whinny of robins, and we walked into a large flock that had been here feeding on honeysuckle berries since October. On both sides of the path, Birds fluttered through the undergrowth, calling and playing.
I felt surrounded by and included in two separate societies. Then, I was part of the flock and, with my dogs, part of the pack. Making my way through the snow. I thought back about the year I used to take a litter of puppies out to the overgrown fields of a farm I rented. On those walks, I experienced an excitement of belonging forgotten until today's outing in the snow. And I recognize now how important that excitement was and how I miss it. And...And I think that when I'm lonely, it's because I've slipped too far away from some prerequisite communion. Some hard running with the pack. A run with my clan.
This is Bill Felker with poor Will's Almanack. I'll be back again next week with notes for the first week of Deep Winter. In the meantime, if you have a clan somewhere, find it and be with it.
Bill Felker contributes to newspapers nationwide, including the "Yellow Springs News." Bill resides in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
Poor Will's Almanack is brought to you by Tree Care Inc., offering services in arboriculture throughout the region. Trees make life better.
