3. Snow day

Blue day.

There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.

~Walt Streightiff

Let me keep my mind on what matters which is my work, which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.

~Mary Oliver

A Great Blue Heron flies.

Do you think adults have to relearn how to be astonished?  How to be in awe of the wonders of the world?

Contemplating the wonders of snow.

On days like today, when snow comes to visit, I don’t have any trouble at all being astonished and awed.  I sometimes think snow must be my spirit weather, if there is such a thing.  I revert to the wide-eyed “whoooaaa!” of childhood, of being amazed and delighted at the wonders of weather.  Each snow crystal or snowflake is unique.  How amazing is that?  And you can make snowballs, build snowpeople and snow forts, and ski and sled on this stuff!

The greenhouse.

Mother Nature and Father Winter gifted us with more snow than I thought we’d get.  I think they even surprised the weather forecasters.

In the woods.

The snow started around 3 PM yesterday.  Sometime last night, before I went to bed, it changed to sleet or icy rain for while.  I could hear it hitting the house and windows.  We woke up to more snow this morning, but it has since changed over to rain.

Looking up at the tall loblollies.

Please excuse the blue hues in the images.  I decided not to fix that because it’s how it looked outside this morning when I took the photos.  As the day brightened a bit, it became more of a black and white world, but early this morning, it was blue and gray.

The boardwalk to the dock.  The cedar is stooped over from the weight of the snow.

The weight of the ice and snow is bowing the trees and tree branches considerably.  While I was walking down the driveway, a large branch from one of the loblollies in the cemetery fell on to the ground, not too far from me.  M said he heard the trees cracking in the Mystery Woods across the street when he went out to get the mail this afternoon.  We may end up with a few more downed branches, but I think the gusty storms from the past year have shaken off a lot of the weak branches or brought down the dead trees that were ready to fall.

Blue morning by the creek.

One of the things I love most about snow is the way it lays a hush over the landscape.  It was peaceful out in the woods and meadows and by the pond.

Marsh and creek on a snow day.

Today’s walk, slow and mindful, counts as my meditation for the day.

Walking in this way should not be a privilege. We should be able to do it in every moment. Look around and see how vast life is, the trees, the white clouds, the limitless sky. Listen to the birds. Feel the fresh breeze. Life is all around and we are alive and healthy and capable of walking in peace.

Let us walk as a free person and feel our steps get lighter. Let us enjoy every step we make. Each step is nourishing and healing. As we walk, imprint our gratitude and our love on the earth.

~ Plum Village

Rain on the stream.

There are a variety of ways to do a walking meditation, from the formal to the informal.  Here are a couple of ideas:

• Walking Meditation by Jack Kornfield
• Plum Village Walking Meditation (which is where I borrowed the above quote)

Trees bowing to earth.

I’m off to make a curried lentil-vegetable soup now.  Wintry days, even when it isn’t quite winter yet, are fabulous days to have soup.  M is baking some whole wheat pita bread to go with it.  You’re welcome to stay a while and join us for dinner.  I don’t think we’ll see a sunset this evening, but you never know.  If it looks like we might, let’s go to the dock to watch it.  It’s scheduled for 4:44 PM again.  Be sure to bundle up.  It’s not terribly cold, but it’s cold enough for the rain-snow mix we’re currently experiencing (they say it will change back to all snow again soon).

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

A gathering of loblollies and cedars at the edge of the marsh.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  476)  An early morning walk in the snow.  477)  The hush in the woods.  478)  The beauty of snow on tree branches.  479)  Freshly baked pita bread.  480)  A fire in the wood stove keeping us warm.

One more.