Of Butterflies and Bees

 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.                                                                                                                                                   Romans 6:4

 Roland and I went for a walk today.  There’s nothing remarkable about that.  The walks are helping to strengthen my newly replaced knee, and Roland is an ideal walking partner for me.  He is about 20 lbs., half Terrier, and half Cattle Dog.  His nose is to the ground for our entire walk, so the pace is perfect for me!  No, the remarkable thing about our walk is that it almost didn’t happen.

 As we left our house on this BEAUTIFUL spring day, (temp in the high 70’s, sunny, sunny, sunny!), I thought we needed something new in our walking repertoire.  Our neighborhood is an oval, about one quarter of a mile.  It is placed on a challenging slope of a hill. I thought that it might be time to take on the hill, as we live at the bottom of it.   Maybe we will someday soon, but today as we started up it, I felt the compulsion to turn around and enter the woods where we usually walk. It was a serendipitous choice!

 The sun and the warmth made our usual path somehow feel magical.  As my knee has healed quite a bit, I can walk with my head up looking at the beauty around me rather than at the ground all the time.  Today, no matter where I looked, I was enchanted.

 The first thing I noticed as I watched my footing, were the tracks from various deer that live around our neighborhood.  They are often scavenging at my husband’s bird feeders, but these are the only non-avian visitors that my husband welcomes.  These were fresh tracks, and they seemed to be following the same path that Roland and I were taking.  We did not see them, but I did not expect to.  They are shy creatures for a reason.

 Little lavender spots flitted along the path as well.  Now, I am not sure if they were butterflies or moths, but they were lovely!  More insects delighted us too.  Big fat and fuzzy bumblebees swerved like a drunken man around the cranberry bogs we passed.  There too we noticed some dragonflies with their translucent wings. Life is coming out from winter and taking part in the world again.

 Roland pulled me to the side of the path.  There was a swampy area there, with trees growing amongst the waters.  Roland tried to pull away from me and quickly I understood why.  There was a red squirrel scooting up one of the trees, and I almost couldn’t keep from laughing with joy.  I do not often see this type of squirrel and it was a treat.  Having my attention set on the marsh, I noticed a thin veil of algae starting to form, making the scene look fairy-like.  Skunk cabbages were in full bloom and fiddleheads were lazily unrolling in the afternoon semi-sun.

 On the return walk home, I was much more cognizant of my surroundings.  These woods that I walked almost daily had a different personality almost every day as well.  The beech trees, last to shed their withered leaves, were sprouting new ones in a form that looked like a hand unfolding as they reached out to the sun and new life.

 I could go on and on about what I saw, heard, and smelled on this walk.  Just the symphony of birds was enchanting.  I guess the point of all these observations is that life wins. Just as Christ died and rose again to give all a new life, God blesses all His creation with renewal each spring. How would we understand the magnitude of Christ’s gift to us without His death?  How would be appreciate spring without winter?