A magic moment

Fist snow in Kočevski gozd

And we did await it after all, the first snow of the year. I grabbed my photography equipment and made my way to the woods before dawn. Small snowflakes were falling all around me. It was peaceful. As I made my way through the woods, I walked on the freshly fallen snow and broke the beautiful, untouched white of the ground. A small branch of a beech gave in to the weight of the fallen snow it gathered and it fell, like a fluffy cloud, to the ground. Darkness was still all around me. The silence of the woods was so inspiring to me! Although it was very early, it wasn’t my first time being there. Sunlight slowly made its way through the branches and uncovered fresh fox tracks in the snow. The fox was walking just right in front of me! And of course, my imagination was running wild… I was walking around in tranquility, like a ghost, carefully and silent, so I didn’t disturb anything close to me. In my mind, I imagined what path lead it here, why it made a circle where I was standing and why did it trample the snow almost to the ground… In time, I stumbled upon another track and thought, if it was the same fox from before, or maybe another one, and how much space does it have to live in. I imagined how it carefully walked on the freshly fallen snow bed. Its steps lead to water. First the paw, then the snout… a drink or 2, and it slowly disappeared into the night…

New story is being revealed with first ray of light.

Winter is a magical time, because it reveals to us what is hidden to the eye. You just have to learn how to read it. Tracks write themselves into the snow and make up new stories as they go along; stories about foxes, squirrels, martens, and about walkers, who will soon make their way with their dogs for a stroll in the morning in peace.

Rising of the morning.

I myself enjoyed my early morning meditation, learned how to observe and to sharpen my thoughts, sight and senses. And the fresh track in the snow took over my thoughts completely. My thoughts about the fox were so strong, my wish to meet it as well, that it couldn’t have been any different than this. Overtaken by making photos in the snowy woods, enjoying the beautiful morning, all of a sudden it appeared before me. No, it wasn’t a ghost. It was very much alive, covered in its warm brown-colored winter fur, the fox. Our eyes met, looking each other from eye to eye. Just like in the story of the Little prince, who tried to tame it and said:” It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.

The fox, of course, disappeared into the woods, but me meeting it, all my adventures were still very much alive in my heart. The adventures of the rising sun, the light playing with the freshly fallen snow as is shone upon, and the pure white snow itself marble my mind to this very day. It has to be true when they say that all life runs around the mountain Stojna in all of its beauty. And in this truth lies the true magic, because you don’t know what you will see the next time you visit. You just have to come back and see. See and explore a new adventure, a new story. Till next time…