I spent the long weekend at my husband’s family cabin in northern Wisconsin. On Sunday afternoon a friend and I were cross country skiing on some beautifully well groomed paths through the tall pines. The sun was shining…it was warm…and all was right with the world.

As we were skiing along, we both began to notice all the different kinds of tracks in the snow. There were, of course, countless deer tracks which were easily recognizable. Tiny, fluttery tracks skittered in and out of small, fallen branches…probably a small rodent trying to outrun a predatory bird. Above us an eagle soared and we noticed a disturbance in the snow where no real tracks were visible….possibly a spot where the eagle had grabbed lunch. Near one tree there were marks in the snow of some kind of struggle. Then there were the padded paws of, what? A large dog? Coyote? Wolf? Since I am not a fast skier, a wee bit unnerving.

My friend mentioned seeing a poster of a snow angel that had no tracks that led to it. It was smaller than a human. In the sky above the mark in the snow was an owl, its wings outstretched. The track had been made by the swooping of the owl and the pattern its body and wings had made in the snow.

Later I wondered….what tracks do I make in the world? Are they soft and fluttery, like the small rodent or do they disturb the world all around like the tracks of struggle? I’d love to think that my mark is more like the owl-angel, but I know it is not always so. Do my tacks cause anxiety or fear like the padded feet on the unknown animal?

I don’t have any answers, only the hope of my intention to, as the Natives say "walk gently on this Earth."