A long and quiet winter slowly thaws out as a flaming gas giant travels closer to the center of the great sky. Dormant fauna begin their awakening, as they push their way out of their shelter of an earthy blanket with an array of colors and songs; it is the crescendo of the first orchestra hand in hand with the vibrant images of the first motion picture. Glorious! The tracks of returning critters begin to leave their marks on the ground as they gather and breed; many times unbeknownst to the tracks of the revered feline that follow closely behind. The first signs of life.
Silent is the hilltop, where the wooded beings begin to unfurl their greenery and shade the earth. The houses remain dormant as only a few sets of steps appear in a day, a single chimney smokes it's sign of life, la 'yerba máte' passes from one's own right hand to left. The well trodden paths tell stories of seasons past, of adventurous bipedal creatures, of countless trips to mingle, of the midnight snacks, of stammering laughter, of laborious marches, of saddled beasts merged with humans, of firewood traveled...
As it all comes back, every last bit of it beckons the great return of those who call this paradise...and soon shall they come!
-- Joshua Muñoz-Jimenez, October 2019
