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.  🙂

 

Power outage

I never before noticed the hissing sound the gas on the stove makes until the power went out last night and I had to cook dinner in the quiet absence of all electricity.  Candles flickered in the darkness as we spent the evening playing a dice game at the dining room table, talking, laughing, losing, winning, spending time with each other instead of in the company of the television or computer.  Flashlights guided us through the suddenly unfamiliar maze of the house.  We camped out in the living room, a mattress on the floor, layers of blankets heaped on top.  The curious cats massaged us with their feet, walking and sniffing and marveling at the movement and transformation of the everyday to the extraordinary.  “A mattress on the floor?” they seemed to ask, and then, “A mattress on the floor!” as they bounded around and finally settled in.  Heat from the fireplace kept our toes toasty while the encroaching cold nipped and numbed our noses.  Sleep was easy to come by and deep in dreams.

Day 4’s small stone, written in the wee hours of the morning when the power was restored.  It’s shocking, especially in the middle of the night, when everything comes back on, beeping and clicking and rumbling.

Last night happened to be one of the coldest of the season so far, and I was amazed at how quickly the house cooled down once the electricity was gone.

Citrus-y morning

Citrus-y Morning

Peeling the clementine, fingernails digging into the bumpy skin
Orange-y scent rises up
My body POPS! awake
Caffeine for the nose.
I place a segment in my mouth
and smile at the burst of citrus-y pleasure
that washes across my tongue.
The scent stays with me for hours
Released from my hands and into the air with a gesture.

I joined a river of stones for fun and challenge.  I originally thought I might post my small stones (if I posted them at all) over at Life in the Bogs, but now I’m thinking Bountiful Healing will be a good place for these little moments of life.  It’s sort of a safe space, with fewer followers.  I can hear a voice in my head calling, “Chicken!”  This is a different type of writing for me so, yes… call me Chicken.  For now.

this morning’s passing breeze

Moths in the meadow on a breezy morning

All beings are encompassed within one all-encompassing great energy:  So I understood from the coolness of this morning’s passing breeze.

~ Mumon Ekai

celebrate

Celebrate each season, for you too, are transformed with the turns of the earth.

~ Arthur Dobrin

seeds

Is childhood ever long enough, or a happy time, or even a beautiful summer day?  All of these carry the seeds of the same fierce mystery that we call death.

~ Eugene Kennedy

A small part

(Wasp on goldenrod.)

No small part of the earth is insignificant.  There is nothing in nature that doesn’t have purpose.

~ Gary Thorp

Photography

(Symbol in the trees.  Photo © 2009 by Robin)

Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual.

~ Edward Weston

In the shadows

(Longwood Gardens pathway. Photo by Robin. 2007)

The secret of life is in the shadows and not in the open sun; to see anything at all, you must look deeply into the shadow of a living thing.

~ Ute saying