Listen

I walk pretty much every morning, even in disagreeable weather. Sometimes, those are the best walks. This morning had been a crisp autumn start to the day. The sky was pale blue with large puffy clouds.

My morning walks are mainly for exercise; I tend to walk very fast. On my walk today, I heard a voice inside of me asking me to push the pause button. So, I did.

I stopped in the middle of a small patch of trees which are surrounded by corn fields. The corn is bordered by large hills and woods. All of which is alight with the colors of fall.

Standing there I could hear the birds. Off in the hills were the crows cackling to one another with cheap gossip. The corn hid the bossy chickadees as they fought over the perfect stalk on the remaining weeds hidden among the corn. They debated who should get the last of the seeds. The obnoxiously loud blue jays darted from one tree top to another in what looked like a game of chase and tag. While the woodpecker tapped at the tree in solitude unaware of the goings on around him.

The slight wind made the dried corn stalks eerily shake and rattle. Yellow and brown leaves danced down to the Earth’s floor in silence, only to be loudly picked backed up and pushed down the trail.

Far off a dog barked as a rooster crowed to the beginnings of a new day. The sound of a chainsaw cutting through the cool morning air meant I wasn’t the only one who had been an early riser. As I stood there, I became aware of the traffic building in our little village. The locals were going to meet up and share the latest news over cups of strong coffee.

It dawned on me; I had paused my fast-paced walk to perhaps push my reset button to my soul. I smiled; thankful I had listened to that voice inside of me.