A day away

Dancing with the sunrise. (Yesterday. Do you see the dancer in the sky?  Or maybe you see an angel?)

When we drop fear, we can draw nearer to people, we can draw nearer to the earth, we can draw nearer to all the heavenly creatures that surround us.

~ bell hooks

Beautiful colors in the sky.

I had just finished reading All About Love by bell hooks when the news came out that she had died.  Another author died this week, too.  One that I used to read when I was younger.  Anne Rice.  I keep wondering if we’re going through another of those phases like we did around 2016 when musicians were dropping like flies.

It’s an age thing, in some ways, and only feels like some kind of coincidence or that they are all escaping this world/age we live in.

Dominator culture has tried to keep us all afraid, to make us choose safety instead of risk, sameness instead of diversity. Moving through that fear, finding out what connects us, revelling in our differences; this is the process that brings us closer, that gives us a world of shared values, of meaningful community.

~ bell hooks, Teaching Community

Sometimes photos come out looking like paintings.  (Assateague Island, yesterday.)

I went to Assateague yesterday, to get away from the all-too-human events that are dominating the world right now and to spend some time by the ocean, do a little hiking, and see what I could see.  The weather was unseasonably warm (near 70°F — I think I heard there were some records broken) and really quite beautiful with and without clouds.  I thought, at first, that it might end up being mostly cloudy, but that wasn’t the case.  I think I saw more sun than clouds.

Up in the air.

There were very few people out there.  Strange for a warm Friday during this pandemic.  The horses, however, were out in some of the usual places.  I was able to visit with quite a few of them.  From a good distance, of course.

On top of a dune in the OSV area.

Some of the horses in the backcountry were not as willing to be present with me.  I found plenty of very fresh horse scat, but not the horses themselves.  There was obviously a little one with the group (smaller poop, smaller tracks).  Perhaps that’s why they made themselves scarce.

Having lunch.

Every now and then I add an update to one of my posts regarding our current situation with Covid.  The data base for the state of Maryland has been down for over a week.  Maybe that’s just as well.  We already know the numbers are climbing in most areas around the country (and the world).  We just won’t know what our numbers are here until they get things fixed.

Like pretty much everyone, I’m exhausted by it all.

Sun, clouds, sand, sea, and sea spray.

As of this writing, the plan is still in place to be with family over Christmas.  I hope we can manage it and manage it safely.  My main concern in the Little Peanut who is not yet old enough to be vaccinated, but he might have natural immunity at this point.  We have rapid tests, masks, and we’ll do what we need to do to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Hiking in the backcountry.

I think that’s about it from me on this cloudy Saturday.  I’d invite you out to the Point for sunset, but I don’t think we’ll see much.  We might even get rained on since there is rain in the forecast.  As usual, we could use a good dousing of rain.  Just in case the weather prognosticators are wrong, sunset is scheduled for 4:45 PM.  I’ll keep an eye on the sky and meet you out there if it looks like we won’t get wet.

Please be safe and be well.  ♥♥♥  I’ll be back again soon with some thoughts on my word for the new year.

In the woods.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  1,931)  The privilege of good health during these pandemic days.  1,932)  All of my loved ones healthy and safe, at least for now.  1,933)  Music and dancing.  I’ve been listening to a lot of music lately, and I can’t help but dance to some of it.  1,934)  The various ways of staying in touch.  1,935)  A day at Assateague.

Dune and sky, a glimpse of ocean.