Upon spending such intimate time within the preserve lands, an intuitive awareness binds my emotions to the constant state of change inside the boundaries of my exploration. Like a chill upon a lover, every wisp of weather has become a touching reminder of my compassionate role and relationship.  I know that as I maintain a capacity for warmth, other residents do the same. The crinkling of my step this time shatters a delicate webbing of frozen moisture upon the leafy blanket. The pressure builds and the frosty white network becomes transparent and looses structural integrity at the apex. I step even softer than I ever have. Traces of my breach are subtle wet prints inside crisp containments, barely noticeable to the eye.

Internal movement warms my outsides, even as I crouch quietly observing the doe, yet again scouting the perimeter. She gruffly vibrates her nares and shakes briskly her head, grinding side-to-side a morning graze. The steam rises from her acknowledgement, and I allow a breath to seep evenly into the air. The heat of a recent leaving also catches my eye, and nose. My blood moves faster with a mild excitement as I know it to be a trace of the bobcat… I can almost see her tracks. Almost.

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