Signs Given
Today was one of those too infrequent days when all the hours are mine...to do as I wish...without work obligations or pressing family or other matters. Days like this...when I am home...alone with my solitude...are especially nice during these warm seasons when the mountains are awakened...
On days such as this, it is good to take the unpaved roads and look...really look...to see what is going on all around. This day, on the way to "town"...10 mountain miles away...I observe that this season’s delicate mountain flowers are in full bloom...always arriving a little later than their cousins in "the flats". Columbine, indian paintbrush, bluebells, brown-eyed susans, wild iris...just a few of the many gracing the green mountainside with colour. Then too there are the medicinal plants...just as beautiful...given to us to heal our bodies and spirits...sage, valerian, red clover, mullein, cranesbill and wild rose, whose budding hips will come to fruition...in the fall... filled with vitamin C...
On the way back from town, I stop at the lake to send greetings to the eagles nesting at its bank. I can see a white head bobbing up and down in the home...so...maybe the eaglets are being fed...or caressed...at this very moment. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see a large, partially camouflaged bird...not an eagle...sitting in a tree...observing the fish cavorting in and out of the placid water...ducks are floating lazily...all seem unconcerned with the few humans blending into the tranquil scene.
Once back home, the urge to remain outside is strong...so I take a walk on the surrounding land...bringing food offerings for the creatures who co-inhabit. As I walk, I look for animal sign...tracks, droppings, tree rubbings, broken young trees or branches. In a few spots, the earth has been disturbed with steps... deep wide strides...consistent with the elk’s walk. Droppings...fresh...confirm that this creature has been here...recently. Continuing on, I can hear many varieties of bird song and the caw caw of the crows letting their relatives know offerings have been left...Circling back upon the house...there is...still...an inner longing to stay out of doors and continue this day of observance. I have learned to follow these inner directions...open my senses...and wait...for that which is coming. While waiting, the urge comes to try a little "landscaping" in the "yard" area, which eventually reclaims all human attempts to rearrange its natural space. Nonetheless, I relocate some young wild rose plants to one side of the fence.
Finally...I sit down and stop...to watch the passing day reflect in the sky...and look and listen. Soon I hear it...a large body...snapping twigs and branches in its movement...in the old forest...that part of the land where the pine, spruce and aspen reach taller and wider to the sky...the space where I had for some reason left the offerings..... The sounds come closer...and I slow and quiet my breath. Suddenly, to the left...my eyes incredulous...see an elk buck...slowly making his way up the hill...alone...on a solitary journey...stopping every few steps to look and listen. He is barely 20 feet away... beautiful...tan and brown skin glistening...velvet, looking soft as clouds, on his young antlers...gentle face and eyes. Outside, I am still but...inside...from the center...wonder and excitement are bursting outwards to this passing traveler...who sent signs all day...and comes so close..........the reward for patience. I quiet my inner voice, which wants desperately to communicate..and let him pass, undisturbed...unaware that I sit so near. I watch him continue...stop periodically to eat a plant or look around him. Soon he is at the top of the next hill but...heading towards the "road" and the other houses. I can see him stop...head turning...not sure of which way to go. Suddenly I know...here is the wanted chance to communicate and to hopefully assist him...return the gift given...send him a sound to help him turn towards the other direction...back to the woods...away from the road and the houses.
Many many years ago, I had learned a type of whistling from the father of my children...with whom...I had walked life...a whistle to help our nonhuman relatives find their direction when momentarily lost. Although I have seen this sound unfailingly help animals reorient, each such moment is still a wonder to observe. I start whistling...and continue while the young buck turns...and starts walking back...back the other way...away from the road and the houses...into the deeper woods. A couple of minutes later, he is gone...giving me much to think about...leaving me thankful once more...for this wondrous day of peace...in these mountains.
On days such as this, it is good to take the unpaved roads and look...really look...to see what is going on all around. This day, on the way to "town"...10 mountain miles away...I observe that this season’s delicate mountain flowers are in full bloom...always arriving a little later than their cousins in "the flats". Columbine, indian paintbrush, bluebells, brown-eyed susans, wild iris...just a few of the many gracing the green mountainside with colour. Then too there are the medicinal plants...just as beautiful...given to us to heal our bodies and spirits...sage, valerian, red clover, mullein, cranesbill and wild rose, whose budding hips will come to fruition...in the fall... filled with vitamin C...
On the way back from town, I stop at the lake to send greetings to the eagles nesting at its bank. I can see a white head bobbing up and down in the home...so...maybe the eaglets are being fed...or caressed...at this very moment. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see a large, partially camouflaged bird...not an eagle...sitting in a tree...observing the fish cavorting in and out of the placid water...ducks are floating lazily...all seem unconcerned with the few humans blending into the tranquil scene.
Once back home, the urge to remain outside is strong...so I take a walk on the surrounding land...bringing food offerings for the creatures who co-inhabit. As I walk, I look for animal sign...tracks, droppings, tree rubbings, broken young trees or branches. In a few spots, the earth has been disturbed with steps... deep wide strides...consistent with the elk’s walk. Droppings...fresh...confirm that this creature has been here...recently. Continuing on, I can hear many varieties of bird song and the caw caw of the crows letting their relatives know offerings have been left...Circling back upon the house...there is...still...an inner longing to stay out of doors and continue this day of observance. I have learned to follow these inner directions...open my senses...and wait...for that which is coming. While waiting, the urge comes to try a little "landscaping" in the "yard" area, which eventually reclaims all human attempts to rearrange its natural space. Nonetheless, I relocate some young wild rose plants to one side of the fence.
Finally...I sit down and stop...to watch the passing day reflect in the sky...and look and listen. Soon I hear it...a large body...snapping twigs and branches in its movement...in the old forest...that part of the land where the pine, spruce and aspen reach taller and wider to the sky...the space where I had for some reason left the offerings..... The sounds come closer...and I slow and quiet my breath. Suddenly, to the left...my eyes incredulous...see an elk buck...slowly making his way up the hill...alone...on a solitary journey...stopping every few steps to look and listen. He is barely 20 feet away... beautiful...tan and brown skin glistening...velvet, looking soft as clouds, on his young antlers...gentle face and eyes. Outside, I am still but...inside...from the center...wonder and excitement are bursting outwards to this passing traveler...who sent signs all day...and comes so close..........the reward for patience. I quiet my inner voice, which wants desperately to communicate..and let him pass, undisturbed...unaware that I sit so near. I watch him continue...stop periodically to eat a plant or look around him. Soon he is at the top of the next hill but...heading towards the "road" and the other houses. I can see him stop...head turning...not sure of which way to go. Suddenly I know...here is the wanted chance to communicate and to hopefully assist him...return the gift given...send him a sound to help him turn towards the other direction...back to the woods...away from the road and the houses.
Many many years ago, I had learned a type of whistling from the father of my children...with whom...I had walked life...a whistle to help our nonhuman relatives find their direction when momentarily lost. Although I have seen this sound unfailingly help animals reorient, each such moment is still a wonder to observe. I start whistling...and continue while the young buck turns...and starts walking back...back the other way...away from the road and the houses...into the deeper woods. A couple of minutes later, he is gone...giving me much to think about...leaving me thankful once more...for this wondrous day of peace...in these mountains.
posted by pralinanmi | 2:35 AM
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