Week Before Christmas

There are many days in my life when I feel too busy, too tired, too something to go for a walk outside.  As I have said over and over again, I am always happy that I make it out once I am there.  It was a gray day, and I asked to be shown something amazing.  Being that it was a gray day, I doubted the scenery would be the "wow" that I was gifted that morning.  As I approached the frozen lake, I was drawn to the dusting of snow lightly covering the ice.  The way that the light was playing on the snow, it looked deep and 3 dimensional.  I realized that it looked like clouds look from an airplane window once you have risen above them.  The snow on the ice seemed to have movement even though the air was still.  I kept watching and the "clouds" kept moving and rolling.  This was some kind of wow!  
I thought immediately of this scene when I read my aunt Joann Cierniak's book "Where you Go Now Mon?" about her experience as a Peace Corps worker in Antigua in the early 1960's.  My favorite line from her book is  "...offering the ultimate physical and psychological comfort to anyone open, at least for a few hours, to living in the glory of Nature's Now."
"The glory of Nature's Now."  What a beautiful way to capture the idea that everything that nature offers is a one-time thing.  No two sunsets are alike, and nothing that you see will ever be duplicated in quite the same way.  Each moment is a gift meant to be enjoyed.  Pause, breathe, and take it in.  Savor "the glory of Nature's Now."  Enjoy this wonderful  cloud slide show from the National Geographic website.

Another Dear Friend

I have another dear friend who has become special to me for many reasons.  She is delightful, loves to smile and laugh, and shares a name with my beautiful grandmother.  "Mabel" loves the outdoors, birds, fresh air, and all that nature has to offer.  Presently she is cooped up in a double room not side by side as we would all hope, but split down the middle by a privacy curtain that is constantly drawn.  She cannot see outside unless she goes into the dining room, and she cannot manage that herself.  As I visit nursing homes, I am often scratching my head wondering who in the world designed them!  
Mabel and I have delightful visits.  She loves to laugh and tell me about growing up as part of a large  farm family.  She told me the other day that she and I are going to "do some big things together".   She would love to take a few road trips, but for now, I would love to find her some bird recordings and a way to play them in her room.  It would be so much more pleasant than the sound of blaring daytime tv that is her constant white noise.  
There are people in our lives that make us want to be great people and do great things.  Mabel is one of those people for me.  If I can't help her, she has fanned a flame in me that will not be extinguished until I can successfully help others like her.  To Mabel and me, being able to see what beauty mother nature creates every day should be seen and treasured.  To be able to crack a window in any weather and fill your lungs with fresh outside air, should be a basic right.  To watch birds at a feeder, or squirrels scrounge for food, would provide hours of enjoyment that tv never can.  
Once again, I remember touring Judy Berry's Lakeview Ranch .... I recently got a phone call from my nephew who had visited Lakeview, and he told me that he and his companion were moved to tears more than once.  Judy is working magic, and freely and lovingly shares all that she knows to whomever will listen.  She wants her concept of treating the elderly with dignity and love to expand and multiply exponentially!  I do too.   Last week I dedicated one of my morning walks to my friend Mabel and had a running dialog in my head about the beauty that was all around me and how alive I felt, so that I could remember to tell her everything.

I dedicate the photo of the rose-breasted grosbeak, Mabel's favorite bird, to her as well. 

Brrr

The lake has completely frozen over now, and it's covered with snow.  It is certainly beautiful.  The geese left early this week for open water somewhere.  I have been thrilled to find that the lake path was plowed after the snowfalls.  It makes walking so much easier.  I spent the first day after a new snowfall walking with my head down.  I love to look at the animal tracks in the snow.  It amazes me to know what normally travels down the same path in the months that there is no evidence left behind.  When I did raise my head to look around, it was stunning.  There was snow stuck to every branch of every tree in sight.  Pure beauty!  This week it has been pretty bitter cold and I'm back to walking with just my eyeballs exposed.  I'm sure that I may frighten people, but I do stay toasty warm.  I looked in my "eagle tree" this week, and knew that with the lake frozen over the chances of seeing her there were remote.  Twice in the last 3 days, I have seen another bird there.  I knew right away that it was smaller than the eagle, and it is much more timid.  An amazing red-tailed hawk has taken off as soon as I get near.  It's belly is such a creamy yellowish white, and it is so silently graceful.  I realized that when I saw the birds in the summer, I thought that their bellies were white, but against the snow, they turn such a warm buttery white. 

I feel so blessed to be able to get outside and experience nature, fresh air, and whatever else the weather brings each day. 
Enjoy your day wherever you are and whatever you are doing.  Decide to be joyful and spread the happiness to everyone you see.  

Miraculous Mornings

I had the most interesting talk with a friend the other night.  We each take a daily walk.  She said that she begins the walk with a statement such as "God amaze me today."  I was speechless because I do the same thing with varied words..."Creator/God/Spirit show me something beautiful today." We are both blown away by the things that we see every time that we walk.  I will have others pass me on the path, and I will ask them breathlessly, "Did you see the eagle?"  They will just say no, shrug, and keep on going.  What I think is happening is that by speaking or thinking about our intention to be fully present in nature, we notice things that others miss.  We are passing the same things.  This week, I count myself truly blessed to have seen and heard some of the most beautiful things!  Yesterday, I saw the brilliant bright orange ball of the sun slowly rise over the barren tree tops and fill the sky with its glow.  I saw a huge doe on the path looking right at me.  I saw literally 100s of geese in the one open space on the ice-covered lake.  They were suddenly very noisy.  The first wave of them took flight and then others followed until there was one goose left swimming on the water.  I saw my eagle in flight across the ice.  She landed in a tree, ate something that she had caught, ignored the circling and cawing of the crows, and took off again across the lake.  I found her in her regular tree about 1/3 of the way down, and upon my arrival, she took off again.  To watch her gracefully fly across the lake was a wonder.

Tomorrow, set your intention to be amazed, to be a positive part of everyone's day, and to spread Joy!  You'll be fascinated with how wonderful your day is!

Beautiful Birds

Oh but it was a chilly  morning.  We had ice on the ponds and ice along the shoreline on the lake.  I could feel exactly where the gap between my sock and my pant leg was as the biting wind did its best to chill me.  
Every morning when I walk, I look in the eagle tree for "my" eagle.  I haven't seen her in weeks, but I'm an optimist, so I keep looking.  I rounded the corner today and she was there!  Why is it that I'm always surprised when she literally takes my breath away?  I say she because it is one of the biggest eagles that I have ever gotten close to, including those at the National Eagle Center.  The female eagles are larger than the males, and because they are at the top of the food chain, they don't need the camouflage of drab coloring like many smaller birds.  She was so regal atop her perch.  I wondered if the ice brought her back to the lake.  At the eagle center they talked about the ice causing fish kill.  When the fish die and float to the top, it's a free lunch for the eagles.  There was a small muskrat on top of the ice, but the eagle seemed uninterested. The sun was out and was reflecting off of the lake, and I was surrounded by a stunning display of nature.  My day started magically, and I made sure to say thank you over and over for witnessing such beauty.  I am blessed.
Bless yourself now, or when you have 1-2 quiet minutes.  Treat yourself to this beautiful video that a friend sent me of starlings Starlings in flight .  It starts out a bit roughly but stick with it.  It is worth it.  It gives me chills of total amazement every time that I watch it!
Enjoy!

Ever since my computer gasped its final breath, I have been taking my daily walk as if I would write a post about it when I got home.  I have found that I pay attention to things that may have just passed me right by in a different frame of mind.  In October, I listened as the grass changed from its gentle green swishing to the scraping of the brown ends as they crossed in the breezes.  The leaves on the dirt path were soft underfoot even though they were brightly colored yellow and red.  
The most wonderful thing happened to me last Friday.  As I was on my return loop of my walk, I flushed a huge dark bird.  I couldn't see what it was but I kept my eyes on the general area where it landed.  I thought that it was probably a crow, but something told me to pay attention and keep my eyes peeled.  As I neared the area where I thought it may have landed, I flushed it again, and it flew toward me before heading out over the lake.  "It" was a stunning great gray owl!  I have never seen an owl and it got close enough for me to see the rings around its face.  I was absolutely breathless, and rooted in one spot as I watched it fly away.  I had to ask myself if I had really just seen such a beautiful creature.  My cup was running over with gratitude for the magic of the day!

Shoulds vs. Get Tos

I tend to be a person who has a lot of shoulds in her life.  I have begun to adopt more get tos in my life.  About a month ago I left all of the cleaning, yard work and other busy things and drove to Interstate Park in Wisconsin.  I spent the afternoon with my extended family who happened to be camping there.  I was rewarded with a fantastic day, breath-taking scenery, and great memories.  Sometimes, I am truly amazed at all of the fantastic parks, trails, and scenery that are so close.  This was a day that I felt so very fortunate to have left all of my shoulds behind.  I won't remember that the house wasn't dusted, but this and other pictures will be with me for years to come!  Get out and enjoy what surrounds you.  Breathe in the wonder and beauty of nature!  You'll be so glad that you did.