Eight degrees

Sparkles of red, blue, and gold twinkle on the pond.  The birds are sunning themselves in the bare trees, trying to catch a little warmth on this frigid morning.  Bright, beautiful sunshine and blue skies have replaced the clouds.  Feet of ice dip their toes into a stream of blue water.  Not everything is frozen.

Day 15.

fantasy island

eyes closed
warm water
cascading
over my head
and body
I am standing
beneath a waterfall
on a tropical island
where snow and winter
never visit

A small stone for Day 14.

scrambled superstitions

If you walk under a cat
Or let a black ladder cross your path
On Friday the 13th
You will receive seven mirrors
Of broken luck.

If you make a wish by chance
Or enter a frog’s house
On Friday the 13th
A chimney sweep will come true.

Three butterflies in a circle
Will bring good luck to a four-leaf clover
But only if you find them
On Friday the 13th.

Just a bit of (lame) silliness for my 13th small stone.

Merely magnificent*

The sun rises from behind the neighbor’s house,
revealing and warming the trees at the back of the pond
in a blaze of golden-orange light.
Darkness lurks in the woods.

Day 11’s small stone.

*The title for this post is courtesy of the spam I cleared out this morning.  One of them referred to my blogs as “merely magnificent.”  I love the contradiction in terms.

I am

Silvery moonlight streams through the window
and onto the sticky mat
Where I am
Becoming
Space
Expanding
Gliding over the ice
Sohum
(I am that I am)

Riding the moonlight

A how-to guide

How to hike in the Bogs:  Take deep, deep belly breathes.  Right down to your toes.  Place one foot in front of the other.  Step, slip, slide, pull, be grateful your boots are so firmly attached you can escape the suction of the mud trying to draw you down into the wet earth without leaving a boot or two behind.  Smile.  A lot.  Sing.  Listen to the birds answer your song.  A walking stick is useful but not essential.  Accept and enjoy the mud, the puddles, and the overall bogginess.  Stop and admire the reflection of the sun and tree branches in the melting ice.  Walk slowly.  Magic happens.  You’ll miss it if you move too fast.

Daily walks are an adventure lately.  Between the record setting rainfall in 2011 and the melting of the foot or so of snow we had last week, the ground is soggy.  The top photo was processed in Photoshop.  It’s one of those trails through the woods where magic happens.

Sun and tree branches reflected in the melting ice.

A January ramble in the woods

The air is crisp and cool, biting on the inhale, an underlying essence of pine carried by the breeze in the coniferous forest.  Sunlight streams through the trees, misty from the thawing snow and ice.  Traversing the swampy and unstable pathways, we tread carefully, occasionally getting mired in the mud.  A joyful January ramble in the woods.

The photo and thoughts are from a hike I took with my husband yesterday.  I’m semi-disconnecting on Sundays and scheduled this to stand in for me until I return on Monday.  A small stone for day 8.

5am

Pulled from sleep, I leave the warmth of the bed, pad barefoot across the cold hardwood floor.  At the window, the golden glow of an almost full moon lights up the sky, and pours  over the icy surface of the pond.  We greet each other in the stillness of early morning, a luminous embrace.

Day 7’s small stone.

bubbling naiads

bubbling, babbling, burbling
the gurgling gush of the January thaw
water sprites splashing in the stream

Because we have not had a proper winter — lots of rain, warm weather, and very little in the way of ice and snow — I hesitated to use the term January Thaw, but it is January and the snow and ice from the past few days is quickly thawing as it warms up again.  Good enough.  🙂

 

Tadasana

tadasana
feet planted solidly
reconnecting to earth
lengthening, strengthening
standing strong and firm and balanced
a stable, powerful foundation — Mountain Pose

From this morning’s yoga practice, a small stone for Day 5.