Haunted

There are days when the grounds at Hope seem absolutely haunted. And by haunted I don't necessarily mean by ghosts or spirits, but definitely by things unseen. There is a whole world that exists among the trees and in the brush and by the water that carries on apart from me and only on those rare occasions that our paths cross do I get the strange sense of how small I am in the universe.

Today there was rustling in the trees that was so loud I thought there was someone else out there with me. It was probably a bird or rabbit, or perhaps even the elusive bobcat, but it was loud enough to cause me to freeze and then circle it from behind, hoping to catch a glimpse.

Earlier I had walked by the water, deeper into the woods, following a strange sound that I had never heard before. The only way I can describe it is the sound a heartbeat makes during an ultrasound. I finally got to within four feet, the sound growing louder and louder, but the thing making the sound, still unseen. I stayed as long as I could before good sense shook me and made me move away. I'm sure it was just a frog, or perhaps an alligator.

I left church this morning with very little in the way of pictures, with only sound memories to take with me.