“A big moon, waxing, looms overhead. In a few days, it will be a Hunter’s Moon, the first full moon after the Harvest Moon, a reminder of the season. So too is the feel of the crisp air upon the face and the forest preparing for winter. I inhale the familiar smell of the birches mixing with the fire we are building. I hear the rush of
the river outside, competing with the bubblings of familiar voices inside. A big hawk circled in the twilight and I know that bears, wild turkeys, and so many other marvelous creatures are passing around us in the darkness.
This is a moment I want to savor, am determined to savor, while knowing that life is fragile and fleeting. These are troubling times, but if we lose our moments of common humanity, our connection with nature, a sense that there is still so much beauty, we risk losing everything.”
“In our time, in our civilization, sitting and doing nothing is considered either to be a luxury or a waste of time. But sitting can produce the most nourishing calm and joy and we can all afford some time to sit. How wonderful to sit and do nothing.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
For me, especially to sit and do nothing in Nature easily produces that state of nourishing calm that Thich Nhat Hanh’s quote describes. Nature’s abundance and abiding wisdom is found in this quiet calm of sitting. It is a meditation, it is connection, and it is joy; certainly it is joy.
The wonderfulness of sitting and doing nothing in nature is so fulfilling, so very full and rich.
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I am enamored of bears. For as long as I can remember there’s been a love affair, a fetish, a respect, an honoring.
It’s a wondrous, humbling, mystical, and magical experience to see bears in the wild – living large and well, wild and free.
Berry Pickin’ Bear
“If you talk with the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other. If you do not talk to them, you will not know them, and what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears one destroys.”
– Chief Dan George
“The grizzly is a symbol of what is right with the world.”
– Charles Jonkel
“Bears are not companions of men, but children of God, and His charity is broad enough for both. Yet bears are made of the same dust as we, and breathe the same winds and drink of the same waters. A bear’s days are warmed by the same sun, his dwellings are overdomed by the same blue sky, and his life turns and ebbs with heart-pulsings like ours and was poured from the same fountain…”
– John Muir
“Grizzly bears are the true monarchs of the wilderness. As a predator at the top of the food chain and an indicator species, they are a symbol of a healthy ecosystem. Where they roam undisturbed by humans, wilderness exists. By preserving grizzlies in the wild, we also preserve the habitat they need to survive. Grizzlies are ninety-nine percent gone from the lower forty-eight states as compared to populations from a century ago. Keeping these animals as a part of the natural ecosystem is healthy for all species, including humans.”
– Grizzly Discovery Center (www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.com)
I had dreamed about Bhutan… mesmerized by the thought of its majestic mountains and mystery. Experiencing it finally in person, I found it to be full to brimming with radiance. Its people and environment warm and absorbing, magical. Gross National Happiness a real thing to strive for, not money and things. Spirituality and prayer, quiet, respect for elders and the land. Bhutan left a deep impression that walks with me still and always will. I treasure the time there and all it left inside me.
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Thailand, land of multiple layers, cultures, and religions…colors, textures, chaos, spirituality, water taxis, tuk tuks, politics, the juxtaposition of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Islamic faiths coexisting in close proximity. Jarring disparity between extreme wealth and extreme poverty. Grand palace grounds, the Gold Buddha, the Emerald Buddha, Thai food and massage, the river… so much to take in and absorb. Such a richness to the experience, piercing intensity, followed by sublime relaxation…memories to savor again and again…
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sing around us in the darkness.
same dust as we, and breathe the same winds and drink of the same waters. A bear’s days are warmed by the same sun, his dwellings are overdomed by the same blue sky, and his life turns and ebbs with heart-pulsings like ours and was poured from the same fountain…”
