Walks
03.03.06 (4:29 pm) [edit]
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 I like going for walks in the very early morning or late in afternoon just before the Sun goes down. There is something very special about those times of the day. The morning with its promise of a new beginning, and the evening with its invitation to rest after a long day, often tiring and sometimes frustrating; such is life. I find that my best walks take place in the cooler months, and the time between seasons is really primo time for me. I like the warring that goes on between summer and fall, and winter and spring; one day very cold and the next warmer, each day is different. Unlike the deep season when each day can be pretty much like the one before it. Where I often walk there is a dirt road that straddles two man made ponds, one of the ponds the upper one has fish, turtles and lots of birds living on or in the pond. The lower one was put in for irrigation so it has less fish that live in it, though there are lots of birds; geese mostly that like to spend a lot of time there. I like it when it is foggy over the pond, sometimes so much so that you can’t see very far at all, it is like being in a room that has fog for walls, not a bad feeling actually. I like to watch the rolling of the fog over the water, very beautiful, a great work of natural art. One day I can remember walking on the road and it was very foggy and cool, quiet, muted, the way it gets when the weather is like that; when suddenly from the fog a very large white Swan swam by, silent and majestic in its beauty and grace. It did not make a sound as it glided by followed by the gentle ripples that it created in its wake….. it was so beautiful that I think I stopped breathing It was one those moments that can’t be planned but will just happen and hopefully enjoyed to its fullest. Just two days ago I was walking in the morning about 6 AM; daylight was just a touch on the horizon, nice cold wind, but no fog this time. It was then that the geese started to call each other from the different ponds. The geese on my left would make their ‘geesy’ sounds and then in a moment the ones on the right would answer, this went on for about 20 minutes, sort of like a monastic choir doing Lauds; it was very beautiful with a definite rhythm to it that I liked very much. So I stopped, closed my eyes allowing myself to feel the cold breeze, breathe in the air deeply, and just quieted my mind, being in the moment; another gift that I needed. It is such a relief to be able to quiet the mind, to simply rest and put a stop for a time to the’ drunken monkey mind’ that sometimes gives me no rest with it constant inner chatter. As I get older I am doing better in keeping it tp more of a minimum; but nature has a way of really putting the mind at rest especially for me in the early morning or evening hours. We are not our thoughts, we are more than that, we can still be aware without a thought in our mind. The brain is more emotional than rational. Without thought self awareness is present, without emotion there is simply nothing. I suppose we need thought to deal with the differing emotional states that we constantly find ourselves in that will often dictate what our thinking will consist of. Many of my thoughts are really just tapes that will start up at the proper cues and sort of run on their own. One good thing about learning to pray and also to meditate is that they can both teach the skill on how to step back and simply observe the movie that is going on in ones head. I believe that in our deepest center we are silent, we just are, watching and observing what is going on at the outer rim of the wheel that we all seem to be connected to. This of course is only my idea that is shared by some and laughed at by others, but that is my experience. Our connection with God is deeper and closer than we could ever think or imagine or hope for. |
posted by: LeananSidhe (reply)
post date: 03.04.06 (6:23 am)
Nature, Spirits great magic.
posted by: mitchdolittle (reply)
post date: 03.05.06 (6:38 am)
Interesting thought, thanks.
peace
Mitch