“Wander here a whole summer, if you can. Thousands of God’s wild blessings will search you and soak you as if you were a sponge, and the big days will go uncounted.
If you are business-tangled, and so burdened with duty that only weeks can be got out of the heavy laden year, then go to the Flathead Reserve; for it easily and quickly reached by the Great Northern Railroad. Get off the track at Belton Station, and in a few minutes you will find yourself in the midst of what you are sure to say is the best care-killing scenery on the continent – beautiful lakes derived straight from glaciers, lofty mountains steeped in lovely nemophila-blue skies and clad with forests and glaciers, mossy ferny waterfalls in their hollows, nameless and numberless, and meadowy gardens abounding in the best of everything …. ” John Muir
Glacier National Park – just a few photos of the wonders there…
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“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”
-Langston Hughes “A rainy day is the perfect time for a walk in the woods.”
-Rachel Carson
The sweetness of rain showered the earth all day with nurturing. I learned to love the rain while living in Hawaii and have continued to love it since. On an island where fresh water is a life force, the rain is always a blessing. The Hawaiian language shows the respect and honoring for rain in its more than 100 words of description for the gift of falling water. “Awa” is a mist or fine rain, “Kawa” is for heavy rain, “Ililani” for a storm, “hikiki’i” for rain that comes at a slant. Earlier in this blog, I enjoyed writing about the Eskimos many names for snow, and my 200 names for Love. It is this honoring of the essence of things and of taking the time needed to notice, acknowledge and feel the nuances and differences, that bestows the rain, the snow and love with such depth and breath.
During a brief respite between showers I found sparkling diamonds of rain drops scattered everywhere!
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So many ways of seeing, feeling and honoring the rain!
I have rocks everywhere. In the yard, found unearthed after the winter, stacked, lined up, appreciated where they are, in the house, on windowsills, the desk, tables, in my pockets… These stones in myriad colors and vibrations surround me with a feeling of sustaining nature. There is an embedded remembering of what has happened through time – and is continuing. Quartz crystals help to ensure calm and clarity, colored stones assist in healing, stones with holes in them bring protection… simply holding a stone in your hand can center and calm. Our original peoples consider the Stone People to be holders of history and energy.
When in tune with an environment a stone may come to your attention. Pick it up! It may help bring a calm centering or have a message for you. (*if you’re thinking this is too “woo-woo” nonsense, take a look at the research being done on “memory that will outlast civilization – dimensional memory in crystals”).
“The data is recorded via self-assembled nanostructures created in fused quartz, which is able to store vast quantities of data for over a million years.
The information encoding is realised in five dimensions: the size and orientation in addition to the three dimensional position of these nanostructures.
Fused quartz created from practically pure silica is used as the core component.”
So here in northwest Montana, I’ll keep looking for and listening to the rocks, carrying them in pockets, and enjoying them around the house. Another of nature’s gifts to be thankful for and to be learned from!
“You will find something more in woods than in books. Trees and stones will teach you that which you can never learn from masters.”
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From Nile Guide, for travelers by locals website (Bryce Canyon Travel Blog):
1. Interesting fact: Water, ice, and gravity are the natural forces that formed the geological “hoodoos” that make Bryce Canyon unique.
2. Fun fact: This park is named after Ebenezer Bryce, who started ranching the area in 1875. Upon showing the canyons to visitors, he is said to have remarked, “It’s a hell of a place to lose a cow.”
3. Cool fact: Prairie dogs were wiped out from the area in the 1950s. In the 1970s, they were reintroduced.
4. Bryce Canyon’s rocks are among the youngest of those on the Colorado Plateau, dating back a mere 65 million years ago to the Cretaceous period.
5. Interesting fact: Paiute Indian history says the colorful, wildly-shaped hoodoos were “Legend People” who were turned into stone by the trickster god Coyote.
6. Fun fact: On a clear day, visibility from Bryce Canyon can exceed 100 miles.
7. Cool fact: Most rural parts of the U.S. have 2500 stars visible on any given clear night. At Bryce Canyon, that number jumps to a whopping 7500. Currently, these essential remaining dark night skies are being threatened by mining in the nearby community of Alton. The mining will potentially adversely affect the clear skies. It is a hugely contentious situation.
8. There are 400 hardy plant species in this high desert environment.
9. Cool fact: Lions and foxes and bears, oh my! Foxes, mountain lions, and black bears inhabit Bryce Canyon, although they are rarely seen.
10. Bryce Canyon is situated along the southeastern rim of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. The word paunsaugunt comes from the Paiute Indian language. It means place or home of the beavers.
11. Geological fact: Bryce Canyon isn’t actually a canyon. It’s actually a natural amphitheater.
12. Weird fact: Marmots, a high-elevation mammal found here, are often called “rockchucks” by the local population.
“A rainy day is the perfect time for a walk in the woods.”
“Kawa” is for heavy rain, “Ililani” for a storm, “hikiki’i” for rain that comes at a slant. Earlier in this blog, I enjoyed writing about the Eskimos many names for snow, and my 200 names for Love. It is this honoring of the essence of things and of taking the time needed to notice, acknowledge and feel the nuances and differences, that bestows the rain, the snow and love with such depth and breath.
