All I want to share with you today is my favorite inspirational quote about the season, by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. He was the subject of one of my favorite films, Il Postino…rent it if you haven’t seen it; a total charmfest. “Quiero hacer contigo lo que la primavera hace con los cerezos.” Translation: “I want to [...]
Continue reading...4. May 2009
When I journeyed to Neah Bay a few weeks back I noticed that trilliums were popping up in the woods. These showy wildflowers are often the first to appear and so they really stand out. They grow in many variations across the continent, but here in the west, they emerge white and gradually turn pink then more of a purplish rose. Though not exactly rare, you do have to venture into the woods to see them. Another common name for them is wake-robin, which brings to mind delightful fantasies of fairies flitting about, making sure robins remain the early birds who get their worms.
Continue reading...24. April 2009
There is a stand of five trees at the bottom of my hill whose names I do not know. About 50 feet tall, deciduous with non-descript single-lobed leaves, they grow out of woods beside my house. I am sure they were not planted by design. I see them every day and yet have not bothered to take a stem of leaves and photos to a nursery for identification. It’s like repeatedly running into a neighbor at the store and never knowing her name but being too embarrassed to ask. I can’t go on living with strangers, so I made a point of it this week.
Continue reading...18. April 2009
First they appear as ruddy dots of hope, then pink buds emerge among a few chartreuse leaves. Next the bulbous buds, large and rosy with obvious promise, swell. Curvaceous. Ripe. Wanting to open, eager, they overwhelm the tiny leaves which cannot grow apace. Then the moment comes—the sun works its alchemy and magnolia soulangiana buds unfold in floppy, flagrant, fragrant opulence. Open and vulnerable.
Continue reading...8. April 2009
Skunk Cabbage is difficult to miss, popping up in bright yellow profusion along streams and rivers or in just about any wetland along the milder areas of the west coast. As attractive as it is, as soon as you approach it, you quickly see how it earned its name. It stinks. Why would a plant feel the need to do that? Well, the foul odor attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies and beetles. Other creatures don’t always share our reactions to things. All you have to do is watch a dog rolling in a dead seagull to know that. (Not that my prissy papoodle would do such a thing!) Actually, she wouldn’t.
Continue reading...3. April 2009
The San Juan Islands loom in a faint mist, and the Strait is a perfect blue void. The only ones up yet are the birds—crows cawing from treetip to treetip, geese passing through, and of course, gulls adding their exuberant “whee-o”s. But most of all I notice the lilting songs of hundreds of new arrivals—mostly unseen—trilling. A cheerful concerto for robins and friends. What else could I need or want? It is a mellow morning—only a few decorative puffy clouds drift lazily by as I warm myself in the rising sun.
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What Is Meditation?
How To Meditate in 5 Easy Steps
Setting the Mood to Meditate
Benefits of Meditation
Expanding Your Current Meditation Practice
Why I Meditate and How It Affects Me
5. May 2009
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