Crazy like a Fox

I don't know what inspired me to go out on a day like today.

It is about zero degrees.  It's the kind of cold that makes the dog, who loves walks more than just about anything in the world look at you like: "Seriously? You're getting me out of my nice warm dog house for this?"
But out we went, and at first, I thought, "Man you are crazy, it hurts to breathe."  But then I got moving and my natural insulation started to cooperate with the layers I had wisely donned.  Pretty soon both Zeke and I were enjoying ourselves.
As nature is wont to do, she rewarded the bold and slightly off their rocker. I saw fox tracks, rabbit tracks, and these:

Those are wild turkey tracks.  I also saw two whitetail deer and many other signs of animal activity.  If I was on the other end of the resource spectrum, that is, if I wasn't a fat guy walking to try and keep control of his weight and diabetes, and I was a person who needed to go out and hunt for food, this morning, cold as it was, would have been a boon.  I could have come home with several turkey or maybe a deer, enough to feed a family at any rate.

It got me thinking about the rather primal experience of walking in the very cold weather.  I saw and noticed things that would have otherwise been invisible.  I followed a fox's path for a while, noticing that though his paws were just a slightly smaller version of my dog's canine prints, he moved in an almost unswerving straight line, until he intersected with some prints made by a rabbit, and then a rather wild turn in the narrative took place.  Zeke wanders all over sharing the rather human impulse to explore for the heck of it.  The fox did not swerve or wander until his prey was at hand.  The fox lived with a single purpose: find food.  Likewise the turkey and deer that I saw were not out for a stroll, they were out there trying to survive.  They can't just go out to the market like I'm going to do in a while and buy their food, they have to somehow find food in the unforgiving frozen winter.

It makes me feel thankful for what I have.  The fact that I could observe the animals and their signs with curiosity and appreciation rather than hunger.  The fact that my dog and I could leave our rather wanton footprints out there in the frozen woods; that is a true blessing.

All in all a pretty good morning for a walk.