He looks so beautiful, doesn’t he? Harmless, too. Just a sleek and happy creature out for a stroll.
And he can wreak all manner of havoc.
This is his season, the time when Trickster returns. Keep your chickens locked up, small animals indoors, wits alert and wary.
It’s been warm enough — far too warm, actually — that he hasn’t felt the need to stray into our sights much yet, much less to bring the whole clan. That time will come, and probably this week: The temperatures are expected to drop in a couple of days, snow a possibility a couple of days after that, and he and his kind will need more ready access to food and warmth.
Trickster weather has been a constant for us so far, winds by turns warm and bitter, ice on the pond giving way to highs in the mid-sixties. It’s the time of year when it should be cold, but climate change is here and apparently determined not merely to stay, but to rearrange the furniture to its liking.
For now, we deal with our own Tricksters, too, mischievous beings bent on wreaking their own special brand of havoc. Coyote and Raven, the Winds and the Storm, sundry smaller spirits that live to disrupt the status quo, all converge at times of their choosing, usually times calculated to create the greatest degree of difficulty for those of us who exist at their mercy. For us, it is a time to seek stability and to stand strong, to pray for guidance and keep both eyes feet planted firmly on the road ahead.
The snows may come this week, or not; the cold will arrive, but whether it stays remains to be seen. Coyote and his clan will stage guerrilla raids on the surrounding lands, dodging the wrath of the dogs and hoping to cadge a providential meal or two. Trickster returns with all his kind, and it is time for us to be ready, to be focused and aware and firmly on the path.
We can do this.
~ Aji
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