That Moosey Feeling

“Watch out for moose today, okay?”

Michelle said this to me as she prepared to leave for work on Tuesday morning. I knew she hadn’t really been outside yet, but she immediately had my attention.

“You got a feeling, huh?” I asked. She nodded.

She has had this feeling before. Somehow, some way, she senses that one of us will encounter a moose. It seems like the few times she’s admitted to the feeling, she has turned out to be right.

On this particular day, she didn’t see any moose on her hike out, but she did find fresh tracks at the top of the ridge, which is more moose sign than we’ve seen in a month or so.

I have heard and read of people’s senses expanding or sharpening after living as we do. Some people theorize that humans have certain perceptive abilities that we’ve drowned or otherwise crowded out with the noise, hurry, and stress of “normal” life. I’m not quite ready to claim the opening of any perceptual doors just yet, but I am, if I may say, open to the possibility. We try to pay attention to our feelings, and notice when they turn out to be right.

Because, without claiming any psychic abilities, there are so many possibilities out there. Maybe Michelle’s subconscious heard a moose outside the cabin. Maybe she even smelled them up on the ridge, without realizing it. Something tipped her off; whatever the source, it should be heeded.

On the other hand, it could be that moose were on her mind, as they were on mine, because I’d just finished creating a trailer for the new ebook. The cow moose shown in the video is the same one that charged me two years ago next week.

The fact remains, though, that moose are close by at the moment, where they may not have been a week or two before. And, mindfulness, sixth sense, or even “spidey sense,” (“moosey sense?) whatever—we need to be on our toes, and aware of our surroundings.