serenity

Where is the Wake-up Chorus?

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Dawn quietly drifts
into my world this morning.
Too quietly.
I wonder where the usual wake-up chorus is,
the sweet greeting of birdsong.
I make my way outdoors,
but I see no birds.
None at the feeder,
none on the porch rail,
none at the birdbath.
A solo twitter sounds high in an elm.
A sharp chip-chip-chip comes
from a hedge.
A distant crow caws, and then
nothing.
Nothing at all.
I peer up into the morning-blue sky
with its drift of summer clouds.
I’m watching for a hawk.
I don’t see one, but
the songbirds know better than I,
and they seem to have made
a strategic, silent retreat.
I know people who have taken
a silent retreat,
a week or so away from home,
not speaking,
not being spoken to,
resting in silence,
trusting its soft strength,
listening
for the secrets it whispers to the soul.
I’ve never gone on a silent retreat,
although I do welcome silence.
Even so, as I stand here
watching a tiny twig
twirl like a weather vane
as it dangles from a spider web,
I miss the background music
of morning birdsong.
I look upward once again.
The clouds have shifted,
a breeze brushes the treetops.
Through the open spaces
where I can see sky
between branches and thick leaves,
I glimpse a glide of dark wings,
a hawk looking for breakfast.
I close my eyes
and inhale the serenity of the moment.
I will keep quiet with the songbirds.
I will wish them a safe, peaceful
silent retreat.
-kh-

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:


Shadow of the week:

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Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.

Night Has Not Fallen

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It’s early twilight,
that gray-blue time of evening
when the neighborhood eases into
the quieter hours of our day.
Chili is simmering on the stove
and the table is set,
so I sit in my rocking chair
to witness the world beyond windows,
to watch the night fall.
“Fall” is a strange way to say it.
Night doesn’t really fall;
it slips in,
seeps through bare, laced branches,
slowly veils the hills.
Tonight the sky is cloud-covered,
a full sweep of blue-gray
gradually growing violet in the east
as if heaven’s light switch
is slowly dimming the day.
It’s a peaceful drift,
moment by moment
as the sky lets go of its dusky gray
and drapes itself in a deepening blue
inviting all who pause and watch
to enter its ease,
to breathe its comfort,
to settle into the serenity of evening
and experience the magic of
twilight blue turning into velvet dark,
whispering calm to a world
that will soon settle into sleep.
No, night has not fallen.
It has snuggled in.
-kh-

 

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the week (made by sun shining through a bottle of syrup):

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Text and photos © Karyn Henley 2025. All rights reserved.

The Peace of Simply Sitting

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After lunch yesterday, I simply sat in my sunroom. I would say I sat in silence, but I was the silent one; the world around me kept humming, although quietly—a gentle tick of the clock, the soft breath of the air conditioner, muted chirps from birds outdoors, the distant rush of a jet crossing the sky. Sunlight turned the tops of the leaves outside a bright green, while deeper in and underneath, the leaves were a forest of dark shadow. A gentle breeze swayed their stems and led them in a slow dance. I was still and silent for only a moment, but that moment filled me with a sense of expanding serenity, and I returned to the tasks of the day refreshed and hopeful.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Text and photos © 2022 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

The Wisdom of Water Lilies

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On a walk at the zoo last week, I crossed a boardwalk bridge and noticed an elegant white waterlily blooming on the river below. Water lilies look as if they’re floating on the surface of the water, but they’re held in place by stems that extend under the water to a rhizome buried in the mud below. It seemed like a symbol of calm and serenity. I thought of how each of us, like a water lily, can root ourselves in the unseen, peaceful flow of life deep in our souls so that what is seen of our lives is a beautiful bloom.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

 

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Text and photos © 2021 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Fast or Far?

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“If you walk by yourself, you can go fast.

If you walk with others, you can go far.”

– old proverb –

 

Nurture peace within yourself and among others. Worry and agitation can be contagious. But so can serenity and calm. So cultivate inner peace, carry the calm, and may you go far.

Nature of the week – a contorted Filbert – at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

For my longer posts on the art of noticing, link here.

 

Text and photos © 2018 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.