... but I wasn't going to Grandmother's house, it was lunch and a walk with my dear friend Mickey that called me out today.
You can see why this little woods is a favorite spot. We stopped to call the birds.
"Doodle! Doodle! Doodle!"
But Doodle the chickadee and his nut hatch pals were shy.
Still, there were plenty of other delights.
Tree trunks.
Drips of rain.
Little miracles hiding in plain sight.
Familiar plants we love all the year round. They wait like friends along the path.
"Oh, look! There's an animal burrow by the violets!" and "Next summer we'll see huckleberries here!"
And even here in the woods, hints of Christmas shine bright.
A note in the trail mailbox. "Merry Christmas, Mickey!"
Too soon we head for home, back through the cemetery to Mickey's house.
"It's hot cocoa weather for sure," I tell her.
Past tombstones with gracefully engraved letter forms. Cemeteries always make me want to linger.
But it's cold and drippy and time to go. We wander past the memorials and the headstones, dogs playing and we two women talking of deep things and nothing at all.
Merry Christmas, dear friends, from me to you. May the year ahead be full and fruitful.
