Holiday Walks and Dreams

One of my favorite walks at Dancing Deer Farm is the one that takes me all around the property. Never leaving the well worn track, you go up hills and into wooded dales. You can go over high plateaus -- where you always feel like you can see forever -- and through ancient oak forest. The sweet, brooding silence of those trees always humbles me: fate has made me one of their caretakers.

On a day when I’m alone with my dogs, just walking and thinking, it’s a walk of a good three quarters of an hour. Perhaps a bit more. That’s my morning exercise, plus it gives me an overview of what’s going on all over Dancing Deer.

Other days, when I’m walking with guests or friends or with my daughter or other members of my family, the walk can stretch into a much longer event, chatting and examining or maybe stopping for a bit and perching on a hillside or under a tree, enjoying a canopy of sky and the feeling of complete freedom I’ve never felt so exquisitely any other way or any other place.

This morning, as I did my usual circuit, dogs bounding ahead or falling behind, as is their wont, it occurred to me, as it sometimes does, that I am luckier than most. I’d just gotten back after being out of town on a family vacation, so I perhaps appreciated Dancing Deer even more keenly than usual. I’m lucky to have all of this natural beauty and wildlife at my doorstep. Lucky to be able to share this wonderful property with others and to learn, through that process, about their dreams and visions. And, by extension, I’m lucky to have all of you in my life.

May the joys of the season touch you and your family. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and dreams with us through 2010 and may your journey into the new decade be a sweet one.

Happy Holidays!