Creatures Great and Small

In the fall, the leaves of the two white birch trees by the pond turn yellow and begin to drop, some of which float gently––or if windy, get blown across––the surface of the water. There are several koi in the pond, who seem to thrive there; during winter they hibernate under the ice layer. It's wonderful to watch their graceful movement through water.

As for the large creature: today, Yom Kippur, I took a walk along the trail through the woods to the south of my house. As I came around a bend, I saw right in front of me, where I usually cut into the woods, a young female moose taking her ease, resting on the ground in the middle of the path. We looked calmly at each other for a couple of minutes; she was probably trying to figure out if it was worth it to get up from her comfortable spot: moose are definitely not as skittish as deer. As I turned off the trail, she lumbered up and ambled off away from me. One of the joys of living in rural Vermont is having encounters like this, with species other than homo sapiens, and seeing a bit of wildness.