Dusk was coming and the area around me was filled with the sounds of Nature. The birds were chirping and flying from trees and bushes all around. Chasing the flies, mosquitoes, and other insects that were buzzing and hopping from place to place. A chipmunk scoured the ground before me and gave pause on occasion to look up and make sure I was still where he last saw me.
A few deer in the distance went about their grazing and their young fawns played nearby with no worries in the World.
I sat and just enjoyed it all. Nature being natural. So peaceful and so very calming. Mind, body, and soul were all one and my breaths were slow and steady. My mind as clear as it ever could be as I sat simply at peace.
A noise off in the distance beside me awakened my senses and heightened my awareness. Adrenaline began to flow and the noise was steadily getting closer. The fawns stopped playing and the adults went on alert as their ears pointed in the direction of the sound. Their tales now up....ready to run.
The birds had stopped their flying from here to there and back again. Nestling into hiding spots and quieting down. Nature had become still except for the growing noise that continued to get louder and closer.
My heart was beginning to race as I focused my eyes and ears towards the brush and woods directly beside me. I was unsure of what to do next. Fear and calmness fought with the unknown that was coming towards me.
Calmness and a belief in Nature took over as I turned to look one last time at the deer. They stood still and the birds remained quiet. It seemed we all wondered what was approaching.
I took a few steps backwards and then focused the camera on the brush. Whatever it was would be coming out right in front of me. Less then five feet away from me.
Louder and louder, closer and closer, my mind raced through a million scenarios at once with none matching what I was hearing. Was it a bear? Was it something larger or smaller? The unknown and the fear that comes with it was in every fiber of my being. I was not tense and was not afraid but yet I felt fear. Is that even possible? Somehow it was possible.
The shrubs and bushes began to move now and yet I could not make out anything as I looked keenly at them. Studying the movement and trying to figure out the size of the animal within. The beast continued to move forward. I remained steady and silent.
Closer still......just feet from the edge of the brush. My heart beat faster and faster. Suddenly calmness and clarity rushed into my body and mind. Yet I could not see what was coming.
The brush at the edge begins to move and out pops the head of a porcupine. It was moving slowly and steadily towards me. My mind raced with the question of could they throw their quills? Either direction there would be quills to the right of me and quills to the left of me. My mind became clear that they could not throw them at me and my only danger was if I touched him.
I dared fate and lay down before the slow moving porcupine. I snapped picture after picture until it was within two feet of me when it finally noticed me. Quills went straight up and so did the hair in my arms. I came up from laying slowly to a kneel as it passed by me and then climbed a tree not far away. I snapped a few more pictures before sitting back where I had been before.
Slowly Nature returned to the calm state of before and the deer began to graze again, the birds began their chirping and flying, the sun was setting and the sky was beautiful. Peace was here again...........
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