WINTER'S WALKING, WAGGING AND WOE

         As I watch the snow flakes quietly drifting by my studio window, it looks as if winter is here to stay.  I've built a lot of snow forts, snow men and had many snowball fights during my younger years but now, since I've become almost as old as winter, I enjoy being inside listening to a crackling fire and having time to do some of the things that during the other seasons I'm too busy to indulge in, like painting and writing.  

          I went for a walk this morning with our fool dog Duncan, I say fool because his attention span is very short - I start out on the walk with him running ahead but we seldom arrive home at the same time because he has lingered too long at the base of a tree watching a squirrel, which is well out of reach, scolding him for being such a nuisance or the scent of a passing coyote has tickled his nose and caught his fancy.  He's a happy dog; his tail is always wagging and if I didn't know better, it looks as if he smiles, and then again, perhaps he does.  As per usual, we started out together on this morning's walk but he was soon distracted by something in the forest and I didn't see him until I returned home about an hour later.  I don't mind that he gets lost in his own little world because it seems, I'm not much different in that respect.  My mind generally wanders on these walks and often, I lose track of time.

          Time is something I no longer have too much of; at age 72, it's a real crap shoot - so far I've been rolling sevens and elevens, doubling my bets and cashing in - sooner or later though, snake-eyes are going to turn up, stare me in the eyes and tell me that the game's over; I lose.  As I look back over the years at my life, I'd be a fool to say I don't have any regrets; that would be like saying I've never made any mistakes; I've led a perfect life.  No, I've made mistakes, plenty of them and unfortunately, some of them I've repeated over and over again throughout the years.  I've made several really big error judgments and one of them that still really bothers me, although at the time because the word "success" had been preached at me from day one, I thought I was doing the right thing.  Even now, if I had continued the way I once was, I would be considered a "success" by most people's standards.  It didn't take me till I was an old man to realize that I had gone down the wrong path; the search for wealth and the easy life is a pathway leading to hell on Earth.  And that's what I find so disturbing now.  So many people throughout the ages have jumped at the chance to pursue riches beyond their dreams and expectations and because of this, I believe the whole world, like my life, is at the very edge of its endurance, perilously at its end.  The Bible tells us that "the meek shall inherit the Earth" and people are awaiting the "second coming of Christ" but hell, if He doesn't show up very soon, there will be no Earth to inherit and there won't be a person still living to greet Him.

          As I wandered down to the lake this morning, everything looked very normal but then when I looked more closely at my surroundings, I realized the trees in the forest looked like mere toothpicks in comparison to the way a forest is supposed to be and what I find unbelievable about their appearance is that the forests are still being logged; when will it stop?  When there isn't a twig left standing; that's when.

          The snow has stopped falling but a slight breeze is still blowing; a tree's outstretched limbs tickling the belly of an overhead cloud can be seen just outside my window.  It's not as quiet as it should be at the base of Green Mountain in Fosterville because I can hear the drone of a chain saw in the not too far distance; a harbinger of more to come and I feel a sadness overcoming me as winter demands its attention - cheers, eh!