A Gift from my Maker

For those of you who have followed this blog for any amount of time, you might remember that last year I had as a goal for our walking group of seeing a river otter before the year was out. Well, nature, of course, isn’t like that. One can’t demand to see something and then see it. Of course, you can hope to see it, but in our case the year passed and the goal wasn’t met.
The frustrating thing is that we had seen scat that practically had the heat rising off it, it was so fresh, but no otter. We had seen their tracks in the snow, we knew the burrow they wintered in, saw fish scales galore from their digested meals, but never saw them. Frustrating.

Now, I am nearing the end of my time on the Cape, and I kept throwing that request back up to God. Father, you know I would LOVE to see an otter, just once before I have to leave. And don’t you know, about two weeks ago, on a walk around the bog that wasn’t crack of dawn, I think it was around 8 o’clock, I rounded the bend to the containment pond and the loudest snorting noise greeted me. Practically like the blowing of a whale and instantly I thought OTTER! And there it was, right in this small pond, head above water, whiskers bristling, then plunging back under.


Speak about doing the dance of joy! And thanking God! I just couldn’t believe my luck, after trucking through the marsh in freezing winter to visit their den, here it was right in my backyard. It kept surfacing and each time it would snort and blow for a while before diving back under. Whether the snort was to clear its lungs before diving again, or a sound to let me know it saw me, I don’t know. But I stayed there, delighted with the performance for a good 15 minutes. And oh, how I wanted to stay longer, but I was afraid my dog would double back and find me and I didn’t want him to disturb the otter, so I had to leave it, still divining, still snorting, but Wow, speak about a prayer answered.

Answered indeed, right down to the “before I have to leave” part, for the very next day was the day the people called to say that although they didn’t sell their house, they wanted to rent ours until theirs sold and needed to move in by Sept 1. And so, the wheels for my now panic filled life were set in motion. So thank you God, a reminder to me that you are listening, even to my silly nature laden prayers that I might see an otter. As always a buck-up to my faith that if you are faithful in those silly requests, then I know you are listening to the much larger ones. And so, I come by my “Yeah God!” spirit.


As I write this I am in Baltimore, just about to head home after tending to the post surgery needs of my daughter. Now it is back to the Cape, movers arrive the following Weds and I will have an empty house a week after that. If the next blog is a little while in coming, you will know why. Until then, may your days have a blush of faith and grace about them. Enjoy!