Bunny rabbit

The rabbits are out in force, chasing each other, hopping over the turkeys, and playing with the younger deer.

… The rabbit is known for its ability to procreate, its fleetness, its ability to make great leaps and hops.  It moves primarily by hops and leaps, and individuals with this totem find that their endeavors do so as well.  All of these characteristics are significant for those with this totem.

… Although some associate fear with the rabbit, it has wonderful abilities for defense.  Those with this totem would do well to apply them to their own life.  Rabbits often create forms to use for hiding and resting.  To create a form, the rabbit scratches a shallow bowl into the earth or grass that is open in front and in back to enable it to escape if necessary.  Rabbit people should plan for possibilities.  If a rabbit has shown up, it may indicate a need to do some more planning or check those you have already set in motion.  You do not want to box yourself into a corner.  Rabbits have a knack for avoiding being seen.  They can freeze, holding perfectly still.  They know that movement can be detected from great distances by many predators.  If you are involved in competition — in work or in play — it will be important not to foreshadow your moves.

Rabbits are also clever at doubling back, making quick and rapid turns.  If they need to flee they can be extremely fast.  Learning to shift from freezing to great speed is something all with this totem should learn.  It will aid your success and enable you to take advantage of opportunities that may only present themselves for brief moments.

Rabbits are vegetarians.  Those with this totem need to examine the kinds of foods being consumed.  For the greatest health and healing, a vegetarian diet, even if only temporary, will strengthen and heal.

Rabbit can show you how to recognize the signs around you.  It can help you to attune to the lunar cycle and recognize the tides of movement within your life.  This in turn will enable you to become even more fertile in your life.

~ Ted Andrews, Animal Speak

The turkey is too dignified to even acknowledge the rabbit.

It is rabbit season here on the ranch.  Not hunting season, but that period in spring when the rabbits take over the asylum.  They are everywhere, chasing each other around.  In the photo above with the turkey, there were three rabbits hopping and leaping after each other in a mad dash to nowhere.  It was funny to watch the leaps and bounds, the quick turns, the doubling back.  It was even funnier to watch the turkeys trying to ignore the rabbits.  I don’t think I ever thought of turkeys as being dignified, but that is exactly the attitude the turkeys convey when the rabbits are hopping circles around them.  Now that I consider it, the turkeys also maintain some sense of dignity when the young white-tailed deer are near them, too.

Bathing and splashing in the pond.  (Pardon the motion blur.  She really was running and splashing.)

Yesterday I watched as two of the deer groomed each other.  Deer lick and groom each other around the neck and shoulders, with the dominant deer usually beginning the process.  It is a bonding ritual, but it’s also a means of removing parasites.  They were licking each other’s ears which is where, from what I’ve seen, the ticks like to gather in great clumps.

The azaleas are doing well this year. (I added some texture to this photo.)

the Dharma is intimate
Immediate
Spontaneous
And Obvious.

~ Sunru Suzuki

If real clarity is present, we experience quietness and peace within us.  If there is only intellectual clarity, we may be happy for a moment or two, but this feeling will not last.

~ T. K. V. Desikachar, The Heart of Yoga

Hearts and rain. (Redbud tree leaves after the rain.)

I’m still pondering the subject of dharma, but maybe from another side of things.  A few weeks back I was experiencing some pain and discomfort in my gut (after the colonoscopy).  I was stressed, anxious, and wondering what I should do about it.  We were already into these viral times and the doctor’s office presented me with a Catch-22 that would have been funny if I hadn’t been in pain.  I was told they were only seeing patients on an emergency basis.  However, if it’s an emergency, go to the ED.  So, I fretted about it (because who wants to go anywhere near an ED during a pandemic???!).  Then I grew weary of fretting and began to work with it, so to speak, in meditation by asking the pain and my gut that all-important question:  What are you trying to tell me?  The answer was interesting, but not surprising.

And then the sun came out and I could almost see through the leaf.

The answer was the obvious, something I can be quite good at ignoring.  I was not, and had not been, listening to my gut.  Not just on a physical level, but in terms of my gut instincts or intuition.  I was labeling my intuition as “worrying,” rather than as something I might want to pay attention to.  One of the things we have been learning about dharma (I think I posted about this at the beginning of the month) is that the voice of dharma can be a quiet one.  You just know, without question or justifications, that what you are doing is the right thing.  Whereas adharma, or that which is not dharma, tends to be noisy and chaotic, filled with justifications and reasons why you should or shouldn’t.

Intuition, I think, works in the same manner.  Intuition, or gut instinct, is the inner whisper that is warning us, or nodding in agreement, or pointing the way.  Whereas worrying is noisy, spinning, filled with excuses and justifications and resistance.  It was an interesting insight, something I’ll be playing with for a while.

Prayers blowing in the wind.

It is day 35 of the 40-day self-care challenge.  The beginning of the end.  Or, perhaps, the end of the beginning.  That seems more like it since my plan is to carry on now that I’ve managed to stop the process of turning into stone and bogging myself down.

How are you?

Today was an easy going day.  A few walks, some outdoor chores, meditation sitting on the bench by the pond.  The “morning meeting” in the woods was lovely, as always.  That has become part of my practice now.  Sitting or standing with the trees, chanting or singing.  Maybe it’s a prayer of sorts.  As I recently mentioned on Instagram, I’m not sure who is praying.  Maybe it’s nature, praying for us.

I wonder if some of the threads will end up in the nests of birds.

On the family front, my youngest brother is in the hospital.  Non-covid related, but serious nonetheless.  He will be having surgery tomorrow.  Thoughts, prayers, good vibes or energy sent his way will be appreciated.  Just direct it towards New Jersey.  I’m sure it will arrive where it’s most needed.

New beech leaves.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and visiting with me in this virtual way.  Shall we go out to the dock this evening to watch the sunset?  There are enough clouds around to make it colorful and interesting.  Sunset is scheduled for 7:49 PM.  It’s relatively warm today (in the 60’s).  A light jacket, a sweater, or a sweatshirt will probably do.  Unless it rains, which is possible.  If that’s the case, we should probably skip it.  A warm front is on the way and that usually means thunder and lightning and a lot of wind.

Please be safe, be well, and be kind.  ♥♥♥

More prayers blowing in the wind.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  1,381)  Beech trees and beech leaves.  I don’t like to name a favorite tree (because I love them all), but the beech is one of my favorites.  Their leaves are beautiful all year round, even those that fall to ground.  1,382)  What if leaves blowing in the wind were prayer flags, too?  That thought makes me smile.  1,383)  The rabbits.  They are always amusing and entertaining.  (Yes, even when they get into the garden and start eating the veggies.  That’s our fault for not doing something to keep them out.)  1,384)  A breakfast Zoom meeting with the Little Wookie and the Little Peanut.  So much fun!!  I think the Wookie is really getting the hang of Zoom meet-ups.  1,385)  Apple and pecan pancakes with cinnamon and Ohio maple syrup.  (We used to buy maple syrup from a guy we knew who lived not far from our old home in NE Ohio.  Whenever we went back to visit, we’d stop by and get more.  He’s out of business now, sad to say.  We’ll finish up what we have soon, and hopefully find another source the next we’re able to travel back to Ohio.)