Frost Covered Faith

It was first light and 21 degrees outside as I walked to the assisted living center to visit my Dad. Frost covered everything. Frost made everything beautiful and still.

I took the long way and searched a creek for a sighting of a muskrat, beaver or otter. Nothing was seen except a slack current and patches of ice here and there.

Another park and another creek beckoned. I took a gravel path to the park. The path ended at a little clearing. I saw a camping mattress in the clearing. I saw two human forms under one blanket on the mattress. I couldn't see their heads. They were buried under the the blanket and apparently spooning by the position of their bodies.

The blanket was coated with frost.

Near them stood a shopping cart of possessions. Two backpacks rested on the ground. I saw a paper plate and empty container of a cup of soup or chili.

All of this was covered in frost.

I noticed a composition book near the campers. It had the look of a writer's journal and I believe I know what they look like. I dearly wanted to read the journal. I would have paid for the privilege. But the writer was asleep so I couldn't make my pitch.

A cardboard sign stuck out of the cart. It was upside down and covered with frost. It read: Have Faith and Pray.

Was that sign for them or anyone else who might encounter it?

An hour later, after my visit with Dad, I walked through the park again and the scene with the mattress, blanket and bodies had remained unchanged.