Moon Visions

I am sitting on the banks of the lake listening to the water gently rise up to kiss the shore. The soft chuckle of the water fills my ears as it steals the kiss and hurries back to tell its friends. Somewhere in the night, I hear a beaver slap the water with its tail as some predator gets to close. These things are what fill my senses as I sit here. In front of me, I see the full moon glistening on the water like a million tiny stars. The woods that surround me are filled with the strange glow that a full moon gives to all things. Everything looks almost surreal, like I am seeing into another world.

A movement catches my eye and I slowly turn. There is a silver fox, like a phantom in the night. The moon’s glow gives him a look like a silver ghost. He is stalking a mouse that is under the bed of leaves on the ground. He pounces and the leaves move away. He pounces again and misses. It’s like a kind of macabre jack in the box. Move, pounce, move, pounce, I work hard to stifle the laugh I feel wanting to bubble out.

A woman’s scream snaps my head around and brings the world around me to a stand still. I look to see an owl flying away a small rabbit in his talons. The scream I had heard was the rabbits. He must have sneaked down to the shore to get a drink and the owl had been waiting, wise old owl. The world is still very quiet as it waits to see if it is safe to breath again. Then the fox breaks the tension by going back to his game of jack in the box. The world takes a deep breath and goes on with its life.

I turn back to look out at the lake and spy a doe at the lake’s edge with her snout in the water taking a deep drink of the cold, spring fed, water. I hear a soft baaing like a small sheep. I look and there is a fawn standing at the edge of the woods calling for the doe. She lifts her head from the water, drops falling from her mouth back into the water making small ripples. She lifts her head slightly as if to tell the fawn it’s ok to approach. I am downwind of them so they can’t smell me. The fawn tentatively approaches the waters edge. The mother dips he mouth back into the cold water as if to show the fawn what to do. The fawn dips his head to the lake and quickly snaps it back up looking at his mother in shock as if to say “Boy mom that sure is cold.” The doe looks at him as if she is chuckling and dips her head back into the water. The fawn follows suit. After they drink, they fade just as quickly as they came back into the trees.

I hear a tree crash and realize that the beavers are back at work. The predator must have moved off realizing that there would be no beaver dinner this night. I hear them working at dragging branches into the water. Then over this noise, I hear a sound that is closer to me. I slowly turn my head towards it so that my movement won’t startle the animal that is approaching. What I see makes my heart start to beat a little faster. There at the edge of the water is a bear. From his size I would say that he is a black bear about five hundred pounds. He lifts his nose to sniff the wind. Bears are notoriously short sighted, but their sense of smell is one of the best in the animal kingdom. I remain nice and still though I don’t think he would attack you just never know for sure. He then dips his muzzle into the water and takes a long drink. He lifts his head again and sniffs the air. He must have caught some hint of my scent because he looks quickly around and hurries back into the tree line.

As I sat there, I heard the soft footfall on the dewy grass. I slowly turned and looked, when I saw the vision that awaited me, she seemed to take my breath me. She was standing there by the shore looking out at the lake with its light mist slowly starting to rise. She reached up and pulled a string, her dress slowly cascaded to the ground. I was in awe as she stood there with the moonlight bathing her body in a surreal glow. Slowly, tentatively, she approached the water much as the doe had done earlier. When she reached the point where the water lapped up to kiss her feet, she dove into the water. When she came up the droplets of water that flew from her hair as she shook her head caught the moonlight in a sparkling display. She lay back in the water letting the moonlight wash over her skin. I swear I could see the goose bumps as the water washed over her. I sat there mesmerized by the vision that frolicked in the water before me. Surely, she must be a nymph sent to tempt me. I could not move as I sat there watching her. It was like some unseen force holding me there. I suspect though it was my own reluctance to break this spell. Then she headed to the shore and came out of the water. She stood there for a minute letting the water cascade off her body in miniature waterfalls. She shook her hair sending a sparkling arc around her head. She reached down to pick up her dress. When she stood she seemed to look right where I was sitting and then she headed off into the forest from which she had emerged, when was it a lifetime ago?

I slowly relax and let the peace of the night and the forest seep into me. I listen as the breeze picks up and whispers through the tall pines that surround me. I like to think that they are sharing some secret amongst themselves. I think that if I listen closely enough I will be able to garner some part of the wisdom these ancient beings hold.

Well the sun is rising and it is time for me to head home. I can come back here anytime though. I can close my eyes and see this world unfold before me. These are the visions I keep in my mind. I call them my moon visions.