Close encounter of the weasley kind

So as proof that God is still speaking (at least to me) I offer this true story from last week.

I decided to take a journal and go for a walk in the woods looking for a place to sit and reflect on the upcoming week's scripture as part of my sermon preparation. I've always been more inclined to pray in motion, so that was my plan. Praying as I walked, the question I was seeking to have answered was "where to stop and sit?" I had a specific spot in mind over looking a stream but only hoped that there would be a log or rock to sit upon.

When I reached the spot that looked familiar I noticed a piece of orange plastic flagging hanging in a tree, directly over a large rock imbedded in the hillside. I think I actually said out loud "OK, I guess I won't be needing that engraved invitation then!" So, of course I sat down on the rock, and found that there was also a notch to rest my feet on! So I proceded to journal, thankful that God had led me to this wonderfully serene location.

As I reached the end of what I had to write I had a feeling that something was about to happen, more specifically, I had an expectation that something was about to appear. Normally I would think that this sort of "spidey sense" for me would mean that I picked up some hint of a bird. But this was different. As I gazed down at the stream some 100 yards or so below me I saw a squirrel scamper up a tree. It struck me that it had the looks of one avoiding a predator. I'm not sure if it was that impression or the the dark brown movement I saw next that led me to the conclusion that there was a fisher down there.

Sure enough, I raised my binoculars and focused on a nice, big, healthy fisher (Martes pennanti). I watched it as it loped along in my general direction. I watched as it started up the hill in my general direction. I watched as it continued up the hill in my general direction. I watched as I realized it was coming in my specific direction! I watched in the binoculars until it go so close that the binoculars were redundant. I watched as it walked along the trunk of a downed tree not more than eight feet away!

It was then that it stopped, turned its head to look at me, raised its nose in the air, gave a sniff...and decided that I probably wouldn't taste as good as porcupine (its preferred prey) and scampered quickly back down to the stream.

It was then that I offered up a one-word prayer, "cool!"