His mysterious ways.......

It was my lunch hour and I had ventured into the woods not far from work to go for a much needed walk alone with my thoughts. It was minus 25 degrees celcius (a.k.a REALLLLLLLLLY cold) but I was bundled-up quite well and had hoped it would be calming to be there with no one but the trees and their dollops of whipped-cream looking snow. It was clear and crisp, and I was hoping that the silence of the woods would embrace me.

Unfortunately however, even as I walked along in this beautiful place, my problems followed with a vengeance.

I was distraught, dreadfully lonely in my marriage, angry, miserable, I was getting fat and now there was some unsettling crap at work to deal with. At first I didn't notice the beautiful sparkle of the snow in the sunlight.

The lattice of sunlight and shadows created by the evergreen canopy was spectacular. When I finally looked up to take it all in, thats when I saw him.

There among the branches was a delicate little red bird. He looked a bit like a grosbeak, (a bird from down south) but a lot smaller. I had definately never seen this type of bird in the frozen-north before today.

*maybe he was lost* , I thought.

It was funny, this crazy little bird actually seemed to be looking back at me!

When I walked further along - he flew further along. When I stopped to look at him -he stopped and looked at me.

I smiled for what was probably the first time all day.

I trudged further along the snow trail. There he was again!, and so I began to enjoy my walk with the little red bird. We played a game: I walked along without watching him for awhile, then when I looked up, sure enough, there he was, keeping-up with me. I walked along the snow-trail and played the game with the bird for almost an hour in the frozen paradise. The little red bird followed alongside right up until I left the woods.

I felt like a child again, the simple playfulness of the game was, in-and-of itself, healing .

I looked back, still smiling, and he was perched on a branch just at the outer edge of the woods. "Bye Mr.Bird" I called out to him in my thoughts.

There he stayed until I rounded the corner, and headed back toward my workplace.

I felt renewed and relieved. Watching the bird's movements had freed me up to enjoy the beauty around me and to forget, for the moment anyway, all my worry and heartache.