Teckla and I take long walks every day. Although Johnson County is blighted with miles of industrial parks and suburban housing developments, it has many amazing parks and miles of bicycle and hiking trails. After a short drive, it is possible to stroll for hours through woods and prairie.
The winter has been harsh, with a couple blizzards, an ice storm, and many days below zero. The eastern cedar is the only evergreen native to this area, so forests are naked. I have enjoyed hiking through the bare bones of woods and limestone ridges. The rocks, cliffs, and gullies will be hidden behind a wall of green this summer, so I am trying to make a mental map of the land.
Yesterday Teckla and I scared up a white-tailed deer while we wandered through a stand of oak and shagbark hickory. The bare branches and bushes allowed us not only to hear the deer bounding through the woods but also see its tail flashing white in the sun. The contrast of the white tail against all the brown and grays of tree trunks was startling.
I suppose there is a survival advantage in the tail flashing like a white flag. It catches your eye and makes you look at where deer was and not where it is going. In the three seconds we watched the deer, we never saw whether it was a buck or a doe. We never saw its head or antlers. The soft grey and brown of its coat blended perfectly with the bare trees and bushes. After each leap, it was invisible.
Yet, it was thrilling to see. The trails were damp from the last melting snow, so we had seen many deer tracks. There was abundant evidence of their presence, but on most hikes, we had not seen any. Seeing the white-tails was a joy.
The white flash of the deer’s tail broke through the barrenness of winter with energy and beauty. I am grateful for how faithful the Holy Spirit is to pierce our barrenness with His beauty and grace. In many small ways, and in hidden places Teckla and I have seen the tracks of Holy Spirit in our lives, but it is wonderful when His beauty blazes bright and strong in the winter sun.
