HILLSPEAKING
from The Anglican Digest 

MICHAELMAS A.D. 2008
Reprint from the 1995 Advent Christmas - Epiphany issue of  THE ANGLICAN DIGEST.

• coming upon a fairy ring of tiny, cup-shaped tan mushrooms in a circle that touches both sides of the path; 

• being led down a path by Papa Quail; once I was safely past the nest off to the side, he and Mama burst into flight; 

• finding pink carnations growing at the base of a trail sign, the seed wafted in by the wind or carried by a bird (there are no other carnations growing at Hillspeak) ; 

• watching a gray fox streak across the path in front of me, hurrying home before the sun is too high (since we have no chickens and foxes help keep the rodent population under control, they are welcome neighbors); 

• admiring pink wildflowers in a bed so precisely set out it almost appears Patient Wife has planted them there; 

• watching the black-and-white cats cautiously and carefully check out a box turtle crossing the path; once their curiosity is satisfied they continue their walk and he continues his plodding; 

• adding another dogwood to my mental count as I discover another seedling breaking through; 

• persuading a blacksnake (one of the good guys) that he should not sun himself in the middle of Skyline Drive lest he get run over, and watching him disappear into the grass; 

• checking the “candles” on Virginia pines to see how much they have grown since yesterday; 

• stopping at a high point to “blow” and admire the view, and having Gray rub against my leg purring her contentment with the time and the place.

“God’s in his heaven – 
All’s right with the world.”