The Eyes That Still Wonder

The wild still has a way of speaking to those willing
to listen (from the author's personal archive)

My recent trips upstate have brought countless reminders that the wonder I knew as a child has never left me. Few sights still fill me with such joy as seeing deer in the wild.

That love was instilled in me by my parents, who cherished the outdoors, and especially by my father, a hunter whose respect for nature ran far deeper than the pursuit of game. From them I learned to look closely, to appreciate the beauty of the natural world, and to understand that every encounter with wild creation is a gift from God.

Whenever I see deer, a soaring hawk, an ancient forest, or a landscape that seems untouched by time, I feel a happiness that is difficult to describe. It reminds me that there is still mystery, beauty, and order in the world. For a brief moment, everything else fades away.

In an age that so often rushes past the quiet miracles of creation, I remain grateful that the sight of a deer stepping from the trees can still fill me with the same wonder I knew as a child. Some things are simply too beautiful to outgrow.

~ By Giovanni di Napoli, August 5th, Feast of the Madonna della Neve