Unfortunately, tolls are nothing new. In fact, they're downright ancient. Romans were the best at road building. They created the first paved roads. They were even smart enough to raise it in the middle so water would flow away from the road and even built gutters to carry it away. There are roads which were so well built they still serve as thoroughfares today. In reading about these marvels, I wondered how quickly folks were charged to use these roads. Apparently it was right from the start. Quoth the holy wiki:
Tolls abounded, especially at bridges. Often they were collected at the city gate. Freight costs were made heavier still by import and export taxes.Go figure. There are also mentions of private citizens having to pay for, or supply labor for the maintenance of a road that crossed or bordered their property. Nice. Guess we still do that today through taxes, another ancient tradition.
Today the family went for a walk down a new trail which had just been paved, connecting an already existing trail with a huge dirt hill and footpath. It was cleared out a bit, graded slightly, and paved over. As we walked along, we passed by another path which hadn't been paved. I stopped while they went on, and found myself standing at a new crossroad. Well, it wasn't exactly new, but with the road freshly graded and paved, it felt newer. The energy was different, as if it hadn't really been imprinted yet. I said a quick prayer to Hecate and Mercury and caught up to the others. I want to go back there and explore the space again and make proper offerings, perhaps on the next dark moon.
Tonight, a Mommy deer and baby deer walked up my driveway and onto my property. Hubby came to get me when he saw them and I went outside. I saw the baby and knelt down with my hands in prayer pose, mostly praying that Diana would give me the Deer equivalent of Parseltongue. Mama deer had jumped over a fence that baby couldn't clear. I waited patiently and the baby deer started to walk over to me. It made me think of a puppy. Then kiddo moved and that was it, the baby deer was back to racing around. Ah well, can't blame a kid for being curious! For all I know, hubby could have scared it. We opened another gate and it went out.
I headed to the back where the Mommy deer was and did the same thing as with the baby. She came out from her hiding place and went towards the open gate but hubby was walking around and he scared her. She ran back to her hiding place and eventually jumped over the back fence. I heard her make the Mama call 3 times, then heard rustling. I will happily believe the two dashed back home together via the path we walked today. Can't wait to see them again, nibbling the grass by my labyrinth!
Were they a response to my prayers at the crossroads? I find it odd that they picked this exact night to walk up my paved driveway instead of their usual route across the grassy front lawn and each of them take an interest in me and only back off when one of the others made a move. I've always taken a keen interest in the animals who inhabit this land (including the bunnies, raccoon and hedgehog!) and am glad it feels like they know me too. I wonder if the bear will stop by for a visit too! ;)
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