“Take a back road and see where it leads …”

As my dog and I take our walks in the wilds and on the shores of Newfoundland, we often come upon the unexpected – signs that someone has been here before us. Evidence of connection, to a squirrel’s leavings of a pine cone feast, a beaver’s hard work, a little red-haired girl taking time to make a sweet fern wreath on the boardwalk as her brother rides his bike (we met them on the trail and only afterward happened upon the “gift”). A feather left behind, a forgotten swing, a painted rock message to encourage others or a woodpile showing preparations for winter.

There’s a comfort in these things, a connection … symbols that we do not walk alone …