Sunrise Crater Lake
“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.”
-David Viscott
Sunset Amelia Island
Sunrise Crater Lake
“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.”
-David Viscott
Sunset Amelia Island
“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods
There is a rapture on the lonely shore
There is society, where none intrudes
By the deep sea and music in its roar
I love not man the less
but nature more.
-Lord Bryon
Sweet Solstice! The nectar of summer absorbed by all of the senses…
The layers of myriad greens, the sensuous breeze, the fragrances of pine and honeysuckle and wild roses, the raven song, the textures of grass under bare legs…. these small yet large, simple yet complex pleasures feed my soul.
Happy Summer, Happy Solstice, Happy Long Languid Days!!
“Look carefully around you and recognize the luminosity of souls. Sit beside those who draw you to that.”
-Rumi
“…with thankful attention… looking back…I can always tell which moments had taken on the restful luminosity. There is a certain stillness, or completion, about them.”
-Hannah Hinchman
“The perceptions of middle age have their own luminosity.”
-Gail Sheehy
“I try to live in the luminosity of things.”
-Meia Geddes
“Can words describe the fragrance of the very breath of Spring?”
-Neltje Blanchan
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
-Carl Sagan
“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet
and the winds long to play with your hair.”
-Kahlil Gibran
“The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious.
If you have a deep scar, that is a door.
If you have an old, old story, that is a door.
If you love the sky and the water so much
you almost cannot bear it,
that is a door.
If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”
-Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Oh Walt Whitman!!
Timeless words that inspire me daily….
“This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.”
-Walt Whitman
“Come with me into the woods where spring is advancing, as it does, no matter what, not being singular or particular, but one of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.”
-Mary Oliver
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.”
-Anais Nin
Carmel at the Santa Lucia Preserve, an idyllic retreat among lichen dripping oaks, green slopes, vistas, birds, deer, and coyote. The alive ecosystem of the coastal environment is present in a vital way to this tired body. Yesterday’s wedding already a fading memory. The Barn, the view of the mountains for the ceremony, the relaxed vibe, all a part of me now, but I’m present in this moment without reflection on yesterday.
It’s all about the trees here. The way they stand in artistic poses and profound presence. They are peace and calm.
And the quiet! It seems they are thinking deep thoughts, still becoming more. It is a vital pervading mood that permeates – introspective and wise.
I am out with the trees now. Sweet soft breeze. They receive what’s offered with such grace. Later there will be a wild wind and a hot sun, and they will provide respite for some winged ones. They will shelter dozing deer, and yawning coyotes. They will talk to their brethren and commune with the others. Later still they will enjoy a moon bath and stellar sparkling light on their leaves. Their roots will reach deeper into the earth and their crown to the heavens with their hearts wide open to all that is. These trees.