You'll Never Spot a Salamander if...

You'll never spot a salamander in the wild if you don't go for a walk in the rain. Maybe not never, but it's not likely.

I've been walking a few miles almost every day for the last few years, mostly on local nature trails. I've seen a lot of wildlife; a fox and a mink in Pennsylvania; and near my home in Indiana, beaver, lots of deer, muskrat, lots of birds, including wild turkeys and even black-bellied whistler ducks which "never" migrate farther north than Texas- except that they did. In short, both shy and rare creatures in the wild, and common ones, too: squirrels, rabbits, robins, and raccoons.

A few days ago, I took off one evening when it was cloudy, not really thinking about the weather report. It started raining five minutes later and rained on me for two hours as I hiked more than six miles. That's when I found this Eastern Tiger Salamander; a reclusive animal headed for a bog during its breeding season, walking right across the same trail I have walked dozens of times in every season of the year. It has been a really long time since I last saw a salamander in the wild, maybe the last time was 1999 when I lived in Asheville, North Carolina.

The rare finds in life happen when you put in the work, day in and day out; when you do what you do whether the weather is fine or not. This isn't luck, but perhaps a sort of serendipity, when things fall into your lap unexpectedly. It's a great metaphor for networking, sales, finding a job, new opportunities, sometimes things come along just when you don't expect them. But you have to put in the miles and you have to do it rain or shine.

And you have to be present. You have to have your eyes open for what might come next. Because sooner or later, whatever it is will certainly appear.