I was walking home from work, about a ten minute walk home
through parking lots and across roads. I had clocked out at 3am. I was
exhausted. I already really despised working that late, and then I found myself
walking through a raging blizzard in order to get home and get to bed. Needless
to say, I was not happy with Mother Nature.
Most nights I don’t see anything on my way home; it is normally
a very quiet walk. But, that night amidst the heavy falling snow, I found
myself accompanied by an unexpected stranger.
I was watching the ground and treading slowly in order to
avoid slipping and making my night even worse, when something struck my
peripheral vision. I abruptly looked up. Nearly two yards in front of me, was a
doe.
We both just stood there, locked in each other’s gaze in the
middle of the parking lot. The hazy lights flickered as the falling snow passed
over.
I don’t remember how long we stood there, looking at each
other. But there was a tension between us that seemed to be communicating that
neither of us really belonged there at that moment. We were both out of our
element, she belonging in the nearby woods; I belonging snuggled up in my bed.
She finally turned slowly and trotted off toward the trees,
and I walked home. But in that moment that doe and I were frozen in time,
completely understanding one another’s purposes. That understanding, that
moment, was worth a celebration.
