Tag Archives: Nature

Celebrating nature.

Things Change

Meditations, , ,

We’ve been here long enough to watch things change, as they do – cattails burst giving up of themselves, seedlings for next spring; the littlest of fawns growing up a bit, their soft white spots fading into tawny shades of brown; and orange cones removed, revealing fresh asphalted streets made ready for winter.  

I am humbled by this chance to be in one place of beauty for more than a day. I am inspired and reminded to not get stuck or too in love with the ways things were when we arrived, and consider the present state – of the cattails, the fawns, the asphalt – as one shape of the process not the beginning or ending or whole of itself. Like me.

I’ve been here long enough to watch things change in me, and practice releasing what I cling to as unmovable suffering or ultimate sublime.

The Warmth Of The Sun

Engaging with God, , , ,

A little winded, I sat on the bench overlooking first – the ad hoc grassy pitch, then the sidewalk, the road, then the hill to the east and sky. Breathing in, breathing out, I pressed my back against the green grid backrest, shifting my line of sight from left to right, from right to left. And there it was – the slightest temperature change on my face as I turned toward and away from the sun. Shifting sunlight and shadows against my cheek carries sensations I had not noticed until just this moment on this bench.

It’s a delightful reminder – light carries warmth. Denied  if I’m busy, irrefutable if I am still and present.

Heart for All

Desert Spirituality, Meditations, Pecos, , , ,

It was All Saints Day 2012 when I first saw this sapling, took her photo, and discovered the purple light while reviewing my pictures at the end of the day. She became what I designated as Trudy’s Tree – my memorial to my sweet sister who had died that January. Each year adding another rock, a small cross created from sloughed-off tree bark, and eventually more rocks contributed by friends also visiting the monastery river walk.

Continue reading Heart for All →

We don’t get more gold stars for doing it the hardest way.

Meditations, Self Care, ,

This morning I decided that I will let myself walk only the flat surfaces of my usual route. Maybe do that twice instead of pushing, huffing, and puffing, and stressing my heart on the steep hill back up. Practice gentle long strides instead of doing it the hardest way – a lesson that keeps calling to me to practice, but merit-thinking is hard to release. So ingrained in me was:

“You have to do it the hardest way for it to count.”

WRONG! Not right thinking.

We don’t get more gold stars for doing it the hardest way. We find well being in listening to the pace of our souls, and body.

I’m headed out now for my longer, gentler walk.

The Junipers

Meditations, Poetry, , 
I am finding my pace here.
Morning walks with a glad heart, 
no shoulds of shaping a different me
Cool, dry air inviting, 
no heavy, moisture-laden blankets weighing me down
Nature every which way I look - geese, egrets, magpies, frantic swarms of gnats dancing in the hottest hours of the day, 
and two of the littlest fawns I have ever seen;
even a small birdie flies into our house. I rescue her with my hat, 
and return her to her home of everywhere - no walls or restrictions of a 180 degree life.
And God.
Yes, God.
Always God.
Walking with me.
Watching with me.
Pointing out to me the more subtle spider-web-weave on junipers, then,
reminding me that to think, 
with broken heart, 
of the unthinkable losses so many are facing this morning, 
is prayer.
Is Love.

It is all just so heartbreaking. I wish there was more to do. I pray for a blanket of Love to comfort all who are suffering.