Ever had one of those days when your to-do list overwhelmed your time available, and exercise became one more chore to fit in? Join the club! On a day like that, I arrived at Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat in a grumpy mood, planning to do a dutiful and speedy trail circuit, but grudging every minute. Until . . .
Halfway along the boardwalk, I stopped in my tracks. Coming toward me was this handsome creature in no apparent hurry to leave. We stared at each other. Minutes passed. Finally, he or she effortlessly scaled the low wooden barrier and vanished into the marshy undergrowth.
It was as if the bobcat appeared at that precise moment to prompt me to slow down, to savor the moment, to smell life’s roses! For the rest of a very slow circuit, I was hyper alert, intent only on noticing. My chores dwindled into insignificance. These were the things in life that mattered:
- a tiny vole scurrying and stopping to nibble
- an impossibly vivid grasshopper
- a camouflaged woodhouse’s toad hiding among pebbles
- a gorgeous wasp
- a stunning wood duck
- a bright bullfrog, its eye and reflected eye gleaming orange
By the time I left Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat, my grumps had gone and my mood was joyous! That’s trail magic. Try it!
