Green

The green path here at the Wabi-Sabi Ranch.

Would the valleys were your streets and the green paths your alleys,
that you might seek one another through vineyards,
and come with the fragrance of the earth in your garments.

~ Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

White Tail Trail. Janes Island State Park.

Green is today’s CaptureYour365 prompt.  Green, I think, ought to be the official color of the Eastern Shore.  Green is practically everywhere.  Even the waters of the Atlantic Ocean appear green.

Green in the woods. (Janes Island State Park)

Green is present year-round.  In the spring it’s bright and lively.  During the summer the greens deepen and become lusher, deeper, more mysterious.  In the fall they start to lighten up a bit again, and in the winter months the greens once more darken and deepen, providing color in what might otherwise be considered a drab, brown and gray landscape.

The Y tree

There are so many different shades of green.  Pine, olive, pistachio, lime, asparagus (did you know Crayola has a crayon color named “asparagus”?), jade, fern, avocado, moss, kiwi, myrtle, army, teal, emerald, kelly, neon, hunter, midnight, sea, shamrock, and forest green, just to name a few.

Walking softly through the greens.

Back in the old days, back on one of my old blogs, Bountiful Healing, I created a series of posts which I appropriately (and obviously) named The Color Series.  If you visit Bountiful Healing, you will find links to The Color Series in the sidebar.  Green, green grass is, of course, the post I did about green (you’ll find a leprechaun, The Wicked Witch, and an Elvis impersonator if you follow the link to that post).

Carpet of green

Green strongly influences the heart and helps alleviate tension.  Positive qualities associated with green are generosity, humility, and cooperation.  Foods of green vibration are all green fruits and green vegetables.

~ Tae Yun Kim, The First Element: Secrets to Maximizing Your Energy

Even the light appears to be green.

Have you ever gone Forest Bathing?  That’s a rough translation of the Japanese term Shinrin-yoku.  Shinrin means forest, and yoku broadly means “bathing, showering, or basking in.”  I do it on an almost daily basis here at the Wabi-Sabi Ranch.  It depends on the weather and the biting insects.  Some days there is nothing relaxing about being in the woods.

Alone in the forest

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for the subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Emerald greens where the forest meets the marsh.

Thank you for visiting today, and taking a walk in the woods with me.  The images are from a hike I took at the beginning of August at Janes Island State Park.  I went off by myself while the guys (M the Elder and M the Younger, who was here on a visit) were kayaking.  It was the first time I’ve hiked the White Tail Trail.  It’s an easy trail, and only 1.1 miles.  There was no one else out there on that hot, humid, and sometimes rainy, day.  The thing that impressed me the most was how green it was in the woods.  With the air thick from the humidity, it was almost as if I could bathe in it.

A tunnel of deep greens

Back here on the ranch, we’re sweltering again.  The air feels like it needs a good thunderstorm to roll through and clear it out.  It is still, muggy, stale.  Perhaps the rain that just arrived will help push the muggies out to sea, and give us some relief.  If the weather prognosticators are correct, Sunday should be a beautiful, dry, and sunny day.  In the meantime, I don’t think we’ll see much of a sunset tonight.  How about we sit on the porch where the ceiling fan will create a nice breeze for us, and watch the rain?  There is a chair out there that we refer to as The Sleeping Chair.  Everyone who sits in it relaxes so much they drift off into the Land of Dreams, and wake up a little while later feeling refreshed.  Call first dibs and the seat is yours for the evening.

Wind chimes in the woods here at the ranch. You can hear them from the porch if there happens to be a breeze.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂  And have a great weekend!

A Red-Spotted Purple sitting in the greens of an oak.

Today’s joys:  The lively, colorful goldfinches dancing around the sunflowers; green tea; a rest day; the lovely, rhythmic sound of the rain; a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret visiting the lagoon.