Paths

Path in Tuscany

Two Lone Wolves

The yearling wolf left his pack to wander on his own. He roamed awhile until he came to a green valley. Here he found a mate and helped her build a den. They raised their three pups and soon had a pack of their own. But when the pups left, the wolf’s mate left as well. He no longer had a pack and he began to wander again.
He travelled far and wide, hunting when the need arose. He saw many different landscapes: grass-filled valleys, snowy mountains, dry deserts, fast-flowing rivers, and the vast ocean. Each taught him much, but he found nowhere he wished to settle, thus he kept on roaming. He did not wish to join another pack.
One day he saw a lone female in the distance. He drew close and loped alongside her. She did not resist, so he stayed with her. They loped along together, covering many miles a day. Occasionally, he would go off to hunt by himself. But he would always bring her some of his meal. Other times, she would disappear for awhile, but she always returned to his side.
They continued travelling. One day, in a forest clearing, they came across a small female canine. She was not a wolf but a smaller breed and she was too young to be safe alone. She tried to join them as they loped easily through the forest. The male wolf looked at the female. She opened her jaws in agreement. They slowed their pace and allowed the foundling to join them. Now they were a little pack, but without the fighting for dominance that the male wolf had experienced in his first wolf pack.
And if you look far out to the mountains, you can catch a glimpse of this little pack to this day, roaming along the valley floor.

-MW

Piccolisms:

Never be in a hurry. There are so many interesting smells along the path of life.

Path in Hamilton, Ontario

My Road

When I am gone and am no more,
Draw the drapes and close the door.
Do not weep and do not moan,
I've but left for the unknown.

You too will part beyond a doubt,
When fate resolves your time is out.
Take heart, be calm and please do heed,
I will be there to soothe and lead.

Lead I will but led I'm not,
Blind I am, know not our lot.
Together we will seek and find,
What us together will ever bind.

A hope it is and nothing more,
The last resort of religious lore!
But dream and faith and hope sustain,
When mind and logic but maintain.

This trodden path we all will go,
And where it leads we'll never know.
We do from misty shrouds emerge,
And shrouds of mist will be our dirge.

​-JM

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An Epigram a Day:

A race well run is a race that is won, regardless of actual outcome.

The past is beyond change.
Nothing can be undone,
Nothing said can be unsaid.
Like death, all past is final.

Dreams are wings, expectations are burdens.

Each life is a variation of birth, growing, learning, multiplying, waning and dying. 

What has been done or not done cannot be undone. 

For life's trying nebulous journey,
A moral compass is man's best guide.

In life, one rarely gets what one deserves,
One gets what one takes. 

​-JM