Out and about

Pink cloud sunrise

This human being is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

~ Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi

Mātūta, goddess of the dawn.

We have had very mild weather for the past week or two.  Maybe longer.  I’m not sure because I haven’t been keeping track.  But change is coming.  Change is already here today with temperatures in the 60’s rather than in the 70’s, and the wind pushing in with the cooler, fresher air.  We needed a change.  The air has been still while it was mild, and in that stillness, becoming stale.  Insects were hatching, too.  Midges, or at least what I think of as midges, were pretty bad on Sunday.  I wouldn’t mind them nearly as much if they didn’t bite, but bite they do.

The ephemeral.

I’ve been spending a lot of time outdoors, as you might expect.  I’ve been biking and hiking and working in the garden and in the woods.  I’ve been bench sitting on the dock, by the lagoon, and near the gardens.  I’ve been conversing with the sun and clouds, singing and dancing in the meadows, and communing with the trees.

A moment of reflection at the Point.

M and I were discussing the birds the other day.  There are not nearly as many birds here as we usually see during the late fall and into the winter months.  Where are the juncos?  What happened to the snow geese?  Why is it so strangely quiet outside?  Even the woodpeckers and chickadees are keeping a low profile, if they’re out there at all.

A Sunday ride to the beach at the Point.

It’s a shame the birds aren’t here in droves.  They could be feasting and fattening up on insects.

It was overcast on Sunday. Then the rain came on Sunday night and cleared things out.

The lawn flowers are blooming.  That’s what I call all the little flowers that show up in our lawn and grasses.  Lawn flowers.  Some I have identified since we moved here.  Some I’ve known since I was a child.  And some still remain nameless to me, but beautiful.

Pretty.

M and I went out to dinner on Sunday night, and made some new friends.  I would tell you all I know about them — how if certain politicians had their way, two of them, and their two children, wouldn’t be in this country at at all — but I’d rather tell you the important things such as how they welcomed us as if we were already old friends.  They treated us to an amazing visual and scrumptious feast of traditional Syrian food that took three days to put together, and not only was the feast delicious beyond words, but so was the conversation.  With words, of course.

Glowing at the edge of the woods.

When we left, we were hugged as if we are family.  I am looking forward to seeing them again sometime in the near future.

Three feathers in the woods.

That’s about it from me and from the Wabi-Sabi Ranch on this beautiful Tuesday in December.  I was hoping we’d make it the dock for the sunset (which has now budged from 4:43 PM to 4:44 PM), but I’m running late today so we’ll have to settle for the lovely pink hue painted across the lower horizon, and call it Good Enough.

A quiet place to sit and reflect.

Be good, be kind, be loving, be well.  Just Be.  🙂

Today’s joys:  A refreshing wind; clear skies and lots of sunshine; sitting on the dock, listening to the wind in the marsh grasses; broccoli and cauliflower mandalas in the garden; communing with the trees.

Still growing in the garden. (A broccoli mandala.)