Despite all this aggravation, I saw a momentary view of beauty at 5 A.M. this morning. The street outside my art room window was empty and covered with a few inches of fine white and sparkly fluff. The sidewalk had been plowed several hours earlier, leaving five foot tall snowbanks on either side. Running the length of the sidewalk were delicate little footprints I've seen before: a fox had made his way out in search of food. Last year during I storm I'd watched a fox dance in the snow, oblivious to the horizontal fury. It dove into a deep mound and came up with a mouse in its mouth. How it knew the mouse was there, I don't know. Its fox GPS hunting device must be incredible! Seeing the clear path around my house (and to my now full and buried trash barrels) reminded me of how difficult it must be for these creatures to stay warm and fed with this amount of snow. I really should take all the veggies and food the parrots waste and leave it out for them. At least during the storm...but I think it, too, will be buried in no time.
The small tracks in the snow were beautiful. Evidence of a mysterious creature whose travels we would not see were it not for the snow. His identity revealed and frozen in the ice. His invisibility taken away. Just seeing the tracks brings him to life and tells me a story of winter. I know the tracks will end up in a work of art in the future...the little creature made his way through a storm with graceful steps and purpose. In a world full of too much noisy information and a lack of the unexpected, this little fella's journey is simple and inspiring. What will you create today?