Angels

My cockatiel died this afternoon after a brief illness which apparently he had actually had for a very long time and kept very well hidden from me. I had acquired him through a friend at work, her friend had suddenly died from heart failure and she had raised this bird from a hatchling for several years prior to my acquiring him.

I am more a dog or horse person and began with knowing nothing about birds, their general care and or maintenance. But I soon came to know him and his likes and dislike, he loved popcorn! He would learn whistling tunes from me and repeat them often and was a true light unto my quiet world often bursting into song and chorus in the middle of the day.

On the day of his passing as I was driving over to a friend’s house for consolation I remember seeing a vision of Angels around me. There was a ring of about 5 or 6 in a circle and they were ringing their hands and looking down upon me in this place of overwhelming pain and tears and loss. One of the Angels asked, “what seems to be the problem here?” Another said, “she has lost her beloved bird, he died a short while ago and she is very sad without him.” Another Angel very young and new to this sort of thing said, “but he is right here, and he is just fine. Doesn’t she now that he is O.K. here with us?” The eldest Angel looked at her and said she cannot see that right now, for these humans don’t have Angel sight yet. But she will know very soon that her bird has not gone anywhere and is with her always as all things are connected. Her pain will ease and a new light will enter her heart where and old light left. And she will be more whole again very soon. And she will always hear his song no matter where she travels she will carry his song in her heart – always

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Life In Flight

I’m learning only just now that life is a river of ever fleeting moments cascading past us only to be seen or felt by stopping and listening to its silent calls. I stopped long enough yesterday on the Tamarack path to see I was surrounded by a half dozen chick-a-dees. They were chirping and flitting about on the apple branches just a few feet away from me. Joyfully singing their songs of praise to the light of God. I could have reached out and touched them they were so close.

Today I was greeted by a sparrow. I heard the chirp and glanced above my head. She landed on a branch for a moment then flew over to the neighboring tree. In flight she stopped and hovered for a second or two. A sight I’ve only seen one other time last year from a crow. In mid air she stopped and paused fluttering her wings as if it was an awkward movement to stop in mid-flight. Did she stop to signal me or perhaps it was a mating ritual? I know not the answer. Only that I will never forget the sight of the paused fluttering in mid air, much like a dog shaking off after a swim in the water and all the droplets fly away in their own pattern of life and flight.

In these silent encounters and brief moments a soul becomes one with Nature and finds itself new energies and refreshing breath to carry onward into the glory of that which is called life.

Do not wait too long to stop and listen to the fluttering of a birds wings or watch the drop of dew as it falls off the tip of the pine needle. Leaving its old home and moving on to a new place in the sun. Both the needle and the drop of water are forever changed for the brief exchange of time together. And the watcher too is changed for spying the encounter and remembering:

Life is in the moment, only this one single moment exists or matters or has any consequences at all.

Spring Love

He spotted her from across the open meadow through the small hedgerow of evergreen trees and hardwoods. She lay so still and so perfect, silent in her deep solace of beauty and grace. He galloped across the field leaping over old dried tufts of orchard grass around large piles of field stone under the branches and over the dead logs to come upon her and stop, INSTANTLY! For one brief moment he stood in awe of her majestic beauty, breathless with his heart racing to a new rhythm and pulsing rapidly to a new beat. Then silent as the cat that might pounce on the mouse it has stalked all day he leapt forward and in one motionless swoop he landed upon her and grabbed her in his arms. Inhaling her essence and swallowing all of her body whole becoming intoxicated and entrapped in her invisible snare.

They melded into one form each becoming the other. Intertwined as one being dancing, swirling and twirling around clasped so tightly one could not tell they were two separate entities. Effortlessly waltzing in one direction then turning to another, around, up, down, back and forth. He would lead then she would lead each never missing a step. That perfect dance of pure love and of pure joy.

He could not remember how long it had been since last being with her, he only knew he was mesmerized and entranced and would forever stay beside her, in her, with her and her with him in all their perfect grace and charm. Until the next winter’s cold would cover her over with its protective shield of ice and close her off from the rest of the world. He would then begin that endless search for her beauty, her grace, that certain ecstasy which comes once again with the warm spring thaw that exposes her perfect soul allowing that spring love and that perfect dance of the wind and the water.

Three Seasons

The sun began peeking her lazy head up over the east edge of Light Point Pond. Peering slowly she knows there is no need to rush about. No calisthenics to perform, no morning ritual to run through. Stretch and slowly rise - she casts her light upon the Earth. Her warmth and love emanate into the pores and cells of everything she touches. All are joyous to be in her company.

A few scattered clouds begin to move in bringing a soft gentle rain. At first appearing as a fine mist then transforming to a heavy dense fog lingering in the air. Turning to tiny raindrops which soon become a downpour of water working feverishly to melt the snow and cold clutches of the winter season. The drops sound heavy upon the icy covered snow as if falling hard upon a tin roof.

Swiftly the rain has transformed to large puffy tuffs of snowflakes. Silently falling they are greeted by a gentle breeze which picks them up and dances briefly with them. Up, up and around and down. They demonstrate a show of faith as they are cast about in mid-air much like trapeze artists and when they come down they land so silently and gently no bones are ever broken. They smother the pre-existing winter scene with a fresh pristine cloak of white.

Three seasons I have just experienced while drinking my morning coffee. I watched a summer’s sun rise begin to warm the day subtly turn to a soft spring rain removing another layer of winters clothing only to return back again to snowfall. All in a very short course of time, Nature constantly changes her banquet of weather offering a wide variety of delights to those who frequent her daily buffets.

Nature's Sounds

It’s so simple; you learned it in first grade while reading stories about Dick and Jane.

Stop-Look-Listen.

That is all that’s required to grasp a moment in Nature and hear her subtle story. She speaks in soft whispers of her quiet journey as she wanders homeward.

It wasn’t an unusually cold morning not a frigid snap or anything like that when I happened upon the sounds of ‘Making Ice’. The creek was flowing and creating a small pool of foam in its center closing in around itself. As I stood and gazed at the foam collecting and forming I became aware of another subtler sound; pop, snap, sizzle, crack, pop, snap, sizzle, crack. Almost like someone cooking something on a very hot griddle-sizzling hot! One needed to be very quiet as it was being overshadowed by the normal sound of the water flowing. Water turning to ice, snapping, crackling, I wonder if it’s painful? or maybe just the joyous sound of transformation.

A few days later I paused spotting the freshly pecked holes of the Pileated Woodpecker who has ravaged about a half dozen trees around Light Point Pond. His line of travel is as obvious as his feeding grounds and the chips of pine wood scattered and littered surrounding the tree trunks. Again as I quieted myself I heard the caw of crows flying in from the south, caw, caw, deep guttural caws. Two flying overhead so low I could hear their wings flapping, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. One, as if he knew I was there below appeared to stop in flight for just an instant and generated a single WHOOOOSH and then kept going onward to his next feeding grounds.
What was the crows’ message? Did he know I was there below?

Stop-Look-Listen, it’s happening all around you all the time.

Essence:

I’m having trouble with my writings and photographs which attempt to capture the essence of Nature. She is such a temporal and fleeting spirit words and pictures scarcely do her any justice. There have been ice storms leaving trees covered in glass like leotards stretched tightly over their limbs. Shining and glowing in the sunlight sending a beacon of light and glow far over the woodlands. There have been snow storms shedding several feet of the white substance creating a virgin coverlet over the landscape. Leaving everything pristine and untouched for a brief time. Looking around one can see occasional tracks from deer or other woodland creatures which scurry between trees leaving their footprints upon the freshly fallen snows. Water gurgles up in open areas on streams as if surfacing for air having traveled so far from deep down beneath the ice then dipping back down under another mass of ice and logs only to surface a little farther downstream bobbling up and down up and down.

There have been thaws and deep freezes, morning sun and afternoon sun all creating pockets of shadows and shades of dark and light that appear to sneak and peer from behind trees and snow covered branches and pine boughs drooping heavy from the weight of the snow. Presenting life’s immeasurable beauty and demonstrating her glow with shimmering icicles and snowflakes where each step upon the path offers a new scene and new sights.

But only for a moment does Nature reveal herself, her light and love always present yet fleeting and changing and only seen when one stops and becomes one with her essence. Let the words and pictures attempt to capture what only a moment in silence can truly grasp. The melting of Nature’s essence into each cell of one’s body and soul. She speaks and touches and the present soul is healed in that brief moment.