Around the Bend

Around the bend

She was not a walker, actually she felt a little afraid to walk alone but this was a new challenge;she had researched the route and half an hour on her new fitness regime didn't seem too unmanageable.

It was a warm but not too warm day. She had nher nerves under control when she set off.  Well prepared with back pack , water, fruit. she set forth. Soon she began noticing things, a beautiful wild flower, the sun on the hills and reflections in puddles after thenight's rain, the quiet, only birds singing and her own breathing. She could have been the only person in the world, so lost in the experience was she..

Then she noticed the bend in theroad, the overhanging branches of the trees seemed like a tiumphal arch and a fitting end to her walk. Her imaginationm then took over. Perhaps arounf the bend wa a mugger laying in wait or a ferotious dof let loose, a speeding car, or a dangerous drop or hazard.

She got nearer and nearer, ther was a mixture of excitement and fear, plus a kind of curiosity.  She lingered taking in the vista of the arch of trees, surely it signified something pleasant around the bend.

She needed courage, courage to face what or who was around that bend, She took her time drinking in the present, and the experience of what was now.

Ahead a she approached was green, the beautiful irridescent green of a country field and in the field a beautiful white hore.  He was by the gate looking at strangers passing by, occasionally he nibbled the grass or shook his mane. She offered him an apple.  His liquid eyes, emplored her to trust, and as his soft warm lips bewhiskered lightly touched the palm of her hand, the heat of his breat breathed into her a friendship.

It was a passing encounter and a connection to nature.  On her rerurn, she felt that she had achieved something special. To be connected to th natural world was for her and extension of her connection to God. Perhaps one day the fear and anxiety of the unknown would disappear and she would step lightly on this world seeing that of God in everything.