Day 62
The nearly full moon is rising over the river.
While walking today I came across an old birch, thick and gnarled with peeling bark. The tree appeared vibrant with big leaves. The birch roots formed part of the bank of a creek, with thick, intertwined roots like braids reaching across and into the water. The lesson in the old tree whispered, “The way you draw sustenance is how you stabilize, Watch and learn.”
I appreciated the bark and the roots, branches and leaves. The bark on the trunk was curled and rough, but the roots had typical birch markings which brings to mind secret writing in a book I would love to read.
The walk was long, two and a half hours. There were pools and waterfalls for Juno, but also some dry sunny stretches. It was a walk that gave both of us plenty of physical activity. It felt like an accomplishment when we got back. So much is blooming. The colors of white yarrow and red sumac and yellow goldenrod and green tall grasses say that we are deep into summer now. The smell of sunshine on the vegetation and rocks was strong. Fields of flowers smell like home.
This morning before the walking and the tasks of the day I did one hour of garden gazing. It was such a rich experience yesterday and I hope to make it a regular practice. I sketched the stiff goldenrod and coneflowers that were visible through the stems and leaves. Again I witnessed a tremendous variety of life in that short time. There is so much I don’t know about insects! There were beetles and bees, hoverflies and dragonflies. A finch came to explore the goldenrod. The tall plants create habitat and protection as well as food and nourishment. That’s what the garden is for. A chipmunk came and went, and the little rabbit (suspected eater of my peas) was making the rounds. I am considering getting myself a magnifying glass, and I need a new sketchbook. Watching the life in the garden reminds me of tenth grade biology and the wonder of pond water viewed under a microscope. The day we went to the pond and applied a drop of water to a glass slide and then put our eyes to the microscope lens was a key moment in my life. One drop of natural water contains an entire world. There are living creatures that are going about their lives. Most of them are organisms that are unicellular. They have everything they need in one cell. They move around with hair like projections called cilia or flagella. Paramecium. Stentor. Volvox. Euglena. Amoeba. These were some of the organisms we got to observe. I could have looked all day, all week, or longer, so captivated was I. The world is full of wonder.
I have a good friend who decided to paint flowers because that is what she loves to do. Every day she paints flowers. It is how she draws sustenance, and in doing so she has made space for and received joy and inspiration. She is following her passion. It is what the world needs.
There is a raccoon in the birch tree. Yesterday I found another squirrel proof bird feeder at a yard sale. It was only five dollars. I cleaned it, filled it and hung it. It worked great! Only small birds were able to use it. And apparently raccoons. I went out to see what was happening when I heard sounds in the yard just now. The raccoon was not pleased by my presence and hissed. I decided to retreat indoors. It is likely that the feeder will never be seen again.
I feel alive when I stay true to the promise I make to myself each day to spend time following my passion. Today was a day free from work, and that meant that I was able to luxuriate and not rush when it came to my walk, and the garden gazing. I spent time designing a couple of new yoga practices for friends, and subsequently tried them out and organized them. On work days, usually I have to be discerning and pick a couple of things to do. There is often time pressure. On those days it feels like a win if I get one thing in. Sometimes that one thing is short, but it adds up and it makes a difference. Like my friend with her flower painting. Over the year she has created such incredible art by doing a little bit every day.
Sometimes people feel pressure to do all the things all the time. Life usually has a different idea. What we do doesn’t need to be grand. It just needs to be something that we can return to like a touchstone, and watch as it becomes a well loved thing of refined beauty over time.
Blue vervain
Wonderful….inch by inch for the win!