Flower Power
Today words hanging within my mind and heart don’t need a public platform but rather a safe place to be while the energy behind them gets balanced. So my focus is on flowers and their power to cheer us, heal us and bring joy.
Of Light and Trees
Just after six this morning I raised the shade on my window. Heavy mist from the cow pond next door had first rays of light peeking through it and even though I complained, I threw on a jacket and pants, grabbed my camera and tripod and shoved my flip flops on my chilly feet. The cats were in disbelief that I exited the house prior to their feeding, prior to coffee or crossword puzzle or Facebook…I think they thought the world had ended and walked around in confused circles, tails aloft as if flipping me the proverbial cat ‘bird.’
But sunrise doesn’t wait on anyone. Light can’t be asked to pause while I grab coffee. Dawn comes and in order to witness it we must meet it, face to face.
With temperatures in the fifties my toes didn’t complain that much and before long they were forgotten. First light always delights me and nearly as often frustrates me. Trying to get the exact right exposure with extreme light and shadow can be challenging. But what fun, what pleasure standing under live oak trees, their massive branches spreading overhead and surrounding me with their greatness.
New green of the spring illuminated with pre-dawn light nearly caused me to do back-flips. Instead I simply stood and whispered thank-yous.
And it made me remember a visit to Somerset several years ago. I waked before sunrise and strolled to Glastonbury Tor for a dawn visit. I wasn’t disappointed then either.
A Wild Heart
Nothing is more vital than a wild heart. When we lose that, we’ve lost our connection to the untamed, the unruly….the undomesticated part of ourself. And when that happens, the planet suffers.
Yesterday I met Sampson.
I walked into the conference room and high up on a shelf, he perched. At first I wasn’t sure if he was alive as I wasn’t expecting a bobcat to be…ummm…there. But he was very much alive.
Sampson is a northern bobcat that was ‘owned’ by humans who had him declawed and kept as a pet. They ran into problems with his ‘wild’ behaviors and there were permitting issues so he was surrendered to a wildlife rescue group in Ft. Walton Beach who now provide a home for him. He doesn’t like to be outdoors but rather lives in the administrative part of their building.
resemblance When I looked into this beautiful bobcat’s eyes I immediately saw my orange cat Stanley reflected back through the thread of wildness that remains very present in Sampson. Only it was like Stanley with his superhero powers turned up to full force.
There was no where to hide from his searching eyes. When they locked with mine I understood that his wild wisdom is still intact even though he lives indoors. It was a bit unnerving to have my own wildness, my own worthiness to be evaluated. It was as if I was exposed, open to his scrutiny with no tree or rock or pretense to hide behind. He nailed me.
Sampson allowed me to photograph his greatness and then came down to my level and allowed me to stroke him and ‘love’ him. I was being accepted into his clan. And when I sat at the conference table, he jumped up and walked to me and head-butted or bunted my forehead when I lowered my head to his. Cats (domestic and wild) have facial pheromones that they deposit on other cats, people, objects as a way to mark something as safe. According to one vet, it is like leaving a signal of comfort and safety….trusting the person or environment.
As I reflect back on my interaction with this amazing animal I realize how grateful I am. To be accepted as a trustworthy friend, or a person of comfort and safety to a wild creature (especially one that has been removed from his natural environment by humans and ‘used’ as a pet) is a gift to me. Given the amount of damage humans do to wild animals and wild places, to find acceptance such as this makes my heart glad…and happy.
What is needed on our part to find greater acceptance from wild hearts of the world? What must we do to find ourselves worthy to be accepted by the clan of wild beings that we, in the greater sense, have abandoned? How can we maintain our wildness, like Sampson, even when living in environments that can seem far away from wilderness?
Whether a bobcat–ripped from his natural home as a baby–or a wild manatee, chooses to bring me into their clan, I am deeply grateful that I am deemed as acceptable, as a trustworthy friend and a human that brings comfort instead of pain and destruction….on some level do they know that I am a champion of their wild hearts?
Details
I know I’m paying attention when I see the fine ‘hairs’ on the stems and petals of flowers. Or notice the grains of pollen resting on a petal after being released by a pollinator’s visit or a burst of March wind.
I know I’m going slow enough when I see the details of life. For it is there that I realize and become aware of the depth of beauty around me.
Once a little green snake drank from a saucer of water my partner held for it. That moment of caring for such a small creature held such tenderness, such compassion. The details of daily moments, so precious. Such treasures.
When I allow myself to look deeper, to see with eyes of a student, nature has so much to share…to teach. Such loveliness to touch.
Orchids share their unique personalities with the details of their blossoms. Every opportunity I have to photograph them I feel lighter and happier. The faces I see in each blossom bring such joy.
Life is a little softer, a little kinder when I take time to notice the details and embrace the moments to interact with beauty that nature offers. Some of these experiences will remain in my heart throughout my life.
Springing into Action
It feels as if somebody lit a fire under me. Friday night I painted the bathroom adjoining my office. Saturday morning I painted the guest bathroom and Saturday afternoon I went to a DIY store and purchased plants, then planted the herbs and impatiens and coleus in the courtyard. Sunday morning I did a four mile SUP board paddle at a cruisin’ pace, came home and then went back to my favorite DIY stores and purchased more plants, pieces and parts for my experimental vertical garden and assembled it, and planted the containers. Today I went to Pensacola and purchased groceries at my favorite healthy food co-op, came home raked leaves until I was exhausted, went back to the DIY store and purchased a leaf blower (I caved….couldn’t handle all the leaves with one rake and one body pushing it), came home…put the blower together and used it to blow leaves until almost sunset, then cleaned out the potting shed and organized it, hung two hanging basket brackets and assembled the baskets and hung them. And I wonder why my desk is getting buried. Oh, and I washed and dried three loads of clothes somewhere in the midst of those three days.
Today a book I purchased on-line, Finding Florida: The True History of the Sunshine State arrived. All 500+ pages. When I fall asleep reading it, it will most likely give me a mild concussion (hardcover edition). But with my desk needing attention it’s doubtful the book will capture my attention too soon. Here’s a random quote from the book: “I would have been a rich man, if it hadn’t been for Florida.” Henry Flagler, on his Florida expenditures. I might say that same quote but delete the word Florida and insert…Lowes and Home Depot.
The changing of the season has ushered in some powerful energy to help clear out the old and create new places of beauty. I’m following the urge to spring into action.