Sweet Encounters

Grace grows best in winter.

Samuel Rutherford

Every morning, I hang out the feeders.

This winter is especially snowy and cold,

So I don’t chase anyone away.

I thought I was doing it for the animals-

But when the buck came, watching the squirrel

struggle to get food from the squirrel resistant feeder,

and began dropping seeds on the ground… sharing…

I realized they’re giving me a greater gift.

I am witnessing the grace of a wild life.

The doe also came, with her fawn -

Standing at the feeder together

Eating together.

They will survive without my help.

They will find other feeders, other food

When I fly south,

But the doe and her fawn,

The buck and the squirrel

Have shown me their love.

They’ve been my close companions

In the silent calm of morning

In the loneliness of winter

Where the white blanket has fallen

And stayed. And I am warm with

Affection for this snow,

And the grace it brings

Wandering out from the woods.

I will miss it when I leave,

but I am grateful for it now.

Seek teachings everywhere,

Like a deer that finds

A quiet place to graze,

Seek Seclusion to digest

All you have gathered. . .

Namkhai Norbu

Oh it is going to be hard to leave this snowy wonderland, but, alas, the next time I write I will be in Miami - looking for iguanas and night herons.

Thank you so much for being here. See you in a week or two.

The heavy winter skies have only allowed the moon to shine through a few times this month, but here she is, rising through the trees - not quite full. The wolf moon.

December Trails

If not for reverence, if not for wonder, if not for love, why have we come here?

Raffi

Through the looking glass

A symmetry of turtles

(Tyler State Park, Texas)

a long dock leads

to an imaginary lake

Giants in ballroom dresses

Loom over the park

Lake Bistineau, Louisiana

Blue hour on the bayou

a great beauty in the distance

a small one close at hand

stillness reigns

(Davis Bayou Region, Gulf Islands National Seashore)

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows, by itself.

Matsuo Basho

I hope you all had wonderful holidays! I’ll keep this short so you (and I) can get back to your year end celebrations.

Thank you so much for being here. See you again soon!

seagulls and pelicans reclaim a hurricane battered pier

Summer's Ghost

We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost.

Henry Rollins

It comes

Floating,

Flying,

Fading,

Furling:

flowering.

It comes.

September: it was the most beautiful of words, he’d always felt, evoking orange-flowers, swallows, and regret.

Alexander Theroux

This September so sweet and summery, is nature’s sleight of hand - but fall is still showing signs.

I got a little off-schedule with this, preparing for my first book binding workshop, which was yesterday (Saturday, September 28).

I will be back twice in October. That may become my normal schedule- 2 Fridays a month.

Thank you so much for being here!

Harvest Super Moon