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Posts tagged ‘Seasons’

Aug 28

In and Through Us

“The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely.”
― Louisa May Alcott

“The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our song, our very own, and sings our love.”― John Muir

A new week.
The last week of August.
Summer’s dance with fall.
Seasons. Transitions. Harvest.
Start. Middle. Finish.
Repeat. Grow. Change.
Enter the rhythm and flow.
Become apart of it rather than lamenting or fighting it.
The gift of joy given freely in beauty, seasons, celebration of ordinary days.

“Joy is not produced because others praise you. Joy emanates unbidden and unforced. Joy comes as a gift when you least expect it. At those fleeting moments you know why you were put here and what truth you serve. You may not feel giddy at those moments, you may not hear the orchestra’s delirious swell or see flashes of crimson and gold, but you will feel a satisfaction, a silence, a peace—a hush. Those moments are the blessings and the signs of a beautiful life.”― David Brooks, The Road to Character

Jul 11

Shifting and Shaping

“Awareness levels the playing field. We are all humans doing the best we can.”― Sharon Salzberg, Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection

“And when the work of grieving is done,
The wound of loss will heal
And you will have learned
To wean your eyes
From that gap in the air
And be able to enter the hearth
In your soul where your loved one
Has awaited your return
All the time.”
― John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

Things fall apart.
Things come together.
Shifting and shaping.
Trust in the wilderness of unknowing.
Gratefulness in arriving of healing.
Changed and moving forward.
Beginning again, and again.
The rhythm of life.
Renewal, clarity, mystery.
The path we are on together in different places.
Shared journey, some ahead, some behind.
Same and different.
Never alone.

“This is the lesson of age—events pass, things change, trauma fades, good fortune rises, fades, rises again but different.”― Mary Oliver, Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems

May 1

May Day

“Every flower must grow through dirt” –Laurie Jean Sennott

“As full of spirit as the month of May, and as gorgeous as the sun in Midsummer.”― William Shakespeare

April is fickle.
May, there’s no turning back.
The threshold into spring, the cusp of summer days ahead, light and warm.
Soon full color, certain bloom.
Spring in full swing.
The faint scent of spring soon to be overwhelming.
Pay attention.
Do not miss the show.
A lift, an entering, a flow.
Cross the threshold.
Happy May Day.

“…I hear the sounds of melting snow outside my window every night and with the first faint scent of spring, I remember life exists…” – John Geddes

Apr 26

A Way of Being

“Wisps of clouds scattered across the heavens, as if brought to their place by a great sigh.”― Gina Marinello-Sweeney, Peter

“God’s time is slow, patient, and kind and welcomes friendship; it is a way of being in the fullness of time that is not determined by productivity, success, or linear movements toward personal goals. It is a way of love, a way of the heart.”― John Swinton, Becoming Friends of Time

Fullness of time.
Slow. Steady. Through.
Become a friend of God’s time, of the Author.
Big as the sky.
Written in blue and puffs of white.
Grand as the interior of your soul.
Broad. Wide. Deep.
A great sigh.
A way of being.
Ever-present.

“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.”― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Apr 17

Eastertide

“The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created spring.”— Bernard Williams

“The very first Easter taught us this: that life never ends and love never dies.” – Kate McGahan

Easter is the culmination and completion of the Lenten season and the beginning of Eastertide, the seven Sundays following referred to the “Season of the Spirit.” Beginnings and endings and all that resides in between, where we live daily, often looking backward and forward, missing the extraordinary in ordinary days.

The transition from winter to spring, with winter windchills returning yesterday to remind us that she’s not done yet. Transition and transformation are not done in one day but in a series of days held together, in seasons. The cusp of ending falling into beginning. Again and again.

Thresholds, waiting, hoping, dawn, resurrection. May you remain present and senses ablaze through each day of each season, passing through the doors to newness of life.

“Dawn and resurrection are synonymous. The reappearance of the light is the same as the survival of the soul.”— Victor Hugo

Apr 14

Winter to Summer, Back to Spring

“The bird dares to break the shell, then the shell breaks open and the bird can fly openly. This is the simplest principle of success. You dream, you dare and and you fly.”― Israelmore Ayivor

“She decided to free herself, dance into the wind, create a new language. And birds fluttered around her, writing “yes” in the sky.”― Monique Duval

We’ve gone from 7+ feet of snow two weeks ago to 5 days of 80+ degrees.
Robins and red-winged blackbirds proclaim spring’s return, this week a slice of July.
Deep snow lingers still.
Temps dropping to 50s and rain tomorrow.
Snow on Sunday.
Back to spring 50s next week.
Seasons colliding, merging, dancing.
Polka. Waltz. Salsa.
Winter to summer and back again to spring.
Patterns of nature.
Up, down, all around.
Life on display.
Become part of the silence, the flow.
Your answer to what is right now, a resounding “Yes!”
Dream. Dare. Fly.

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.”― Robert Lynd

Apr 1

April Showers, Minnesota-Style

“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything. (Sonnet XCVIII)”― William Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s Sonnets

“Don’t wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul.” – Luther Burbank

April showers, ala Minnesota.
There may be a bit of delay in the bloom.
But there are flowers underneath the fresh blanket of fluffy water.
Preparing, softening, readying for spring.
Never doubt spring will come.
Nor doubt winter will linger until ready to bid adieu.

“The deep roots never doubt spring will come.” – Marty Rubin

Mar 18

Steadfastness

“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, Dog Songs: Poems

“Or maybe it’s about the wonderful things that may happen if you break the ropes that are holding you.”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs

“Listen, whatever you see and love—
that’s where you are.”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

It was Sasha’s 6th birthday on Tuesday, March 14th, the day of Mom’s wake. So this birthday post is late, appropriately so. Kids, dogs, Mom. Sasha loves the kids, Abby and Mom, and other dogs too. Abby and Sasha have been sticking close to me the past few days. Our pack got smaller this week. Love remains. At some point, we carry on. We shift, adjust, and keep moving. And we never forget. A chair is empty and our hearts our full.

“We meet wonderful people, but lose them
in our busyness.
We’re, as the saying goes, all over the place.
Steadfastness, it seems,
is more about dogs than about us.
One of the reasons we love them so much.”
― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

“Because of the dog’s joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

“You’re like a little wild thing
that was never sent to school.”
― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

Feb 24

24 Days to Spring

“When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.”― Byron Katie

“Blessed are you who discover that even in the smallness, your attention might be compressed even more. You who pull out a magnifying glass to discover, to notice, to taste, to smell the small joys and simple pleasures that make a life worth living.”- Kate Bowler, Jessica Richie — The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days

An average of 16 inches of snow the past few days.
A fresh canvas to get out and play in or an inconvenience to complain about.
I choose the fresh canvas approach.
It’s more fun.
The final sweeps and swings of winter on our way to spring.
24 days.
Hard to believe but spring always follows winter in due time.
Remain in winter a bit longer.
At the end of the day yesterday, I went knee-deep snowshoeing.
Kids and adults were out sledding and laughing with delight.
Fresh canvas approach.
Only 24 days left to play in the snow.
Probably a few more than 24 days as the dance of season transitions is about to ensue.
Witness and participate in all of it.
Change the narrative, enjoy this day.

“Be joyful because it is humanly possible.”― Wendell Berry

“To preserve the silence within–amid all the noise. To remain open and quiet, a moist humus in the fertile darkness where the rain falls and the grain ripens–no matter how many tramp across the parade ground in whirling dust under an arid sky.”― Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings

Dec 21

Robed in Stillness

“Now robed in stillness in this quiet place, emptied of all I was, I bring all that I am your gift of shepherding to use and bless. Cuthbert’s Prayer, St. Aidan’s Chapel, Bradford Cathedral”― Ray Simpson, Daily Light from the Celtic Saints: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life

“We cannot stop the winter or the summer from coming. We cannot stop the spring or the fall or make them other than they are. They are gifts from the universe that we cannot refuse. But we can choose what we will contribute to life when each arrives.” – Gary Zukhav

Winter solstice, the first step of the long cut to spring.
No shortcuts, right through the long middle.
Fight or flight or settle into the stillness.
In the waiting, in the wintering, in the quiet.
A purpose, an unfolding, a preparing.
Awake to the gift of each day, of each season.
Open to receiving and giving, the ebb and flow, the rhythm and dance.
Follow the footsteps into the meadow of solstice, of the sun standing still.

“It is growing cold. Winter is putting footsteps in the meadow.” – Roman Payne

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