An Adventure of Trust

I am getting used to the topics for my musings to be given to me, but the focus for this one caught me completely off guard as it literally walked right into my life. I had just finished my run and for some reason I deviated a bit from my norm and chose to walk down the hill from the parking lot, rather than heading to the lake for my cool down. It was the middle of October, which meant it got darker and cooler much earlier in the evening. Feeling a bit of a chill, I had just decided to head back when I looked up and glimpsed what looked like a horse standing at the bottom of the hill silently watching me. For a moment we just stared at each other until I realized I was looking at a moose. I was astounded! She showed absolutely no fear of me and finally deciding I was okay, she slowly started ambling towards a small patch of trees, through a clearing and down to the water’s edge.

I took out my camera silently thankful that I had listened to my intuition the night before and charged my battery as I watched the gorgeous creature not far from me. My heart raced with excitement as together, but yards apart, we both made our way across the sand towards the lush green vegetation waiting on the other side of the lake. I snapped photo after photo of her as she nonchalantly took it all in stride. I smothered my laughter as I watched her strip the leaves off a branch only to have it snap back at her face. She calmly continued to munch on the tall grasses hiding her legs as she reached over for yet another morsel of food.

Dusk continued to fall as I slowly moved ever closer and it soon became very apparent that I had little to fear from her. At one point, I stopped in a clearing and became totally absorbed in viewing the shots I had taken. I had completely forgotten I was standing less than 40 feet away from a wild moose that could charge me at any moment. Given that she had 4 legs to my two and that they were much longer than mine, there was no possibility that I could outrun her. When I finally remembered she was there, I quickly glanced up to see her also watching me and as equally absorbed in her task of eating the vegetation, as I was in viewing the shots I had taken of her.

At this point we had been together for over fifteen minutes and she had never once shown any inclination to head for the woods and safety. So, gaining more confidence, I slowly and carefully continued to move closer to her. Every so often I paused and snapped another picture and still she remained with me showing no inclination to leave. The darkness continued to deepen around us causing my pictures to become more and more blurry, so eventually I shut off my camera and put it away. There was a huge rock between us so I slowly made my way over to it, climbed on top and just sat watching her.

I was so grateful to have spent well over thirty minutes with her that it took awhile for me to realize that the combination of damp clothes and dropping temperatures was leaving me quite chilled.

So, slowly but reluctantly, I made my way across the sand and back up the hill to the warmth of my car. As I was driving away, I saw she had moved down to the edge of the water for a quick drink, so I pulled over and took another moment to watch her before we each went our separate ways in the growing darkness.

Throughout our journey together, I constantly sent a chorus of thank you’s skyward for being part of such an awe-inspiring adventure. We had encountered each other during her power phase as she came into my life to share her energy with me. I was so grateful and honoured to spend this moment of time with this beautiful animal. It was such an adventure of trust that it highlighted for me once again, how important it is for me to respect my own instincts and senses. What a precious lesson to learn from such a grand lady in such an unforgettable manner!