Murmur

The rare earth elements perplex us in our researches, baffle us in our speculations, and haunt us in our very dreams. They stretch like an unknown sea before us mocking, mystifying and murmuring strange revelations and possibilities.

William Crookes

Murmur

The Creator said,

“I will make a tiny bird

the color of night

speckled with stars,

this starling

will learn to speak in many voices -

confusing to his enemies,

delightful to his friends.

He will multiply and spread

Across the earth.

Men will name him ‘pest’, and ‘invader’

farmers will call him ‘menace’ -

all will drive him from their lands.

But for his protection,

I will give this beloved,

mischievous bird

the gift of synchronous flight -

When danger threatens -

he will rise

with thousands of his kind

spinning and circling

dancing and weaving

carving and twisting

in formations

mimicking the creation

and dissolution of galaxies

darkening the sky -

a dismay to his enemies,

a wonder to his friends -

each little bird

on his own path

in harmony

with the flock

a murmuration of sound

and movement.”

And when he watched

their first flight,

the Creator said,

“It is good.”

To see the universal and all-pervading Spirit of Truth face to face, one must be able to love the meanest of all creation as oneself.

Mahatma Gandhi

If you haven’t ever seen a murmuration of starlings, this video on YouTube is amazing.

Also check out the beautiful work of photographer Soren Solkaer on starlings and their murmurations here: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/tags/soren-solkaer/

If you want to hear a sample of the variety of sounds a starling can make, check out @inkydragon (artist, Sarah Tidwell, who rescued a starling she calls “the mouth”) on Instagram. Here’s a link if you don’t have instagram or don’t want to follow: the mouth

The creation theme was inspired by a writing class I’m taking from tricycle.org called “Writing as a Spiritual Practice” and my genuine awe of the amazing abilities of these little birds I see everywhere, and am only just now really beginning to appreciate.

Hope you have a great week. See you next Friday!

Sunrise

Morning is when I am awake and there is a dawn in me.

Henry David Thoreau

gorgonian branches reaching for sunlight

the sun rises dripping from the ocean

a stranded man-o-war dressed in blue and gold

humans interact with the elements in beautiful and curious ways (man standing on a stack of beach loungers, flying a drone)

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread.

John Muir

Rising before dawn

I hear morning calling me-

with a seagull’s voice.

One thing I really love about being in Miami is going down to the ocean to watch the sun rise every day. This week the sky has been spectacular. I hesitate to share sunrise photos sometimes, because someone once told me sunrise/sunset photos are cliches. So - here’s to celebrating a beautiful cliche. Hope you can get out to see one in person wherever you are.

Thank you so much for being here. See you next week!

A great egret spreads his wings in the park. I wonder if he knows how beautiful he is. Time to fly.

Walking Into Winter

This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year's threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath.

Margaret Atwood

Winter Sun

Beneath heavy clouds

blazing brilliant light it dropped

then fell out of sight

Saturday -a beautiful expanse of dune grass blew gently in the wind. (Saugatuck Dunes)

Sunday over ripe berries hung from a bare branch…but those looked like tiny buds below them.

Monday, a dark-eyed Junco sat still for a moment looking right at the camera

Tuesday, a neighbors Hydrangeas; blossoms dried, faded and gone to seed…delicate as paper

Wednesday in the garden, a dried up rhododendron blossom that Dr. Seuss could have drawn.

And on the beach, a pair of pigeon’s prints in the sand by Lake Michigan - as if he just stood there, looking over the water and then flew off

Today - Winter Solstice, the sun was muted by cloud cover but still came through - looking more like the moon.

Movement is good for the body. Stillness is good for the mind.

Sakyong Mipham

This is a time of year that often gets me down, so I did a lot of walking and looking for little signs of light and life. A little color, a little sun, some flowering plants with seeds and buds waiting for spring, a couple of footprints in the sand, the stars in the morning, the cold crisp air and crunchy frost-covered grass under my feet - all these things get me outside of my mind as well as my house and those are both good things. And today the days begin to grow longer again! Happy winter solstice- and Merry Christmas if you celebrate!

Thank you so much for being here! I will see you next week!

The morning sky on the shortest day. Within the darkness, there is the promise of light to come.