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May 12, 2006
Just a Cycle
In the foggy chill of the early morning, before the sun could climb over the eastern mountains, among the dew-dropped green grass, in a heavy silence pierced only by an occasional bird-chirp, I watched a mother black bear and her two brand-new cubs forage and frolic. I happened upon them while out on an early morning drive, and so I pulled over, climbed up on the hood of my truck, sipped coffee from a thermos, and watched the bears' morning unfold. Mother bear was wholly focused on food consumption, her head disappeared into the tall green grass as she fed. She's probably still underweight from her winter hibernation and supporting the needs of her 2 new munchkins. The babies were lost in bear play games. One baby waged a sneak attack on the other, creeping up silently and pouncing from behind. Then the 2 tumbled and rolled in the grass. Next, one ran full speed towards a dead tree and climbed about 20 feet up into it with remarkable skill and fluidity. Through binoculars, the babies' faces were brown and the black fur of the rest of their bodies was so fuzzy you wonder where fuzz stops and body begins.
As I watched the bears on the hillside, I reflected on the last few weeks of my life. A few weeks ago, I saw my first bear of the season, walking sleepily and slowly, as if just awoken from its winter slumber. The last few days have been filled with baby bison. Baby bison are dropping from their mothers everywhere. Once born, they stand and walk immediately, staying with mom, and fearful of predators. Within a few days, they are like little bucking broncos, playing in the fields. These last days have also been filled with flowers, blooming wildflowers everywhere. There are tiny white ones, they and their leaves form an impenetrable carpet over the ground. There were those beautiful purple daisies that close up safely during the hottest part of the day. There were also the dainty, bell-shaped yellow flowers, fluttering carefully in the morning breeze. The tree in front of my house has finally started to bud. The buds are tiny but they glow bright green as the leaves begin to unfurl. What I'm trying to say is that there is new life everywhere around me right now.
The last few weeks of my life, though, have also been surrounded by death. I won't argue here whether I think that my Dad's death was too soon, too unexpected, too sad. What I do know is that it's easy to get lost in such a singularly personal tragedy, and forget that life is just a great big cycle. People, other animals, and plants are born and die every day, births and deaths numbering in the millions, perhaps? Thus, death is as natural as life, and there is great peace to be found in this thought. The baby bears on the hillside this morning, the bucking young bison in the field yesterday, the carpets of white flowers, my Dad's death, all of these things are part of that cycle.
Posted by Meghan at May 12, 2006 11:28 AM
Comments
Meghan, this is a wonderful, poignant post.
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Posted by: shorturl at December 20, 2006 4:17 AM