Walking Around Walden Pond

Today I met a heron high stepping along the water’s edge. We stared at one another—across a distance of four feet. Fortunately I had left my IPhone in the car. Usually, I took the phone with me on Monday mornings when I walked with the meditation group— but not today.

Instead of staring at a screen, I looked at the heron. Is it my imagination or did the heron also engage me. We both appeared to check each other out. I observed her leg movements and she watched me almost stumble over a root. Her posture, when erect, was far straighter. I slumped a bit with the cold. 

We didn’t share any words, but I believe she probably understood that my walk around the pond was both meditative and done in silence. 

She was all grace.