stories

This past week of hurricane and flooding has brought stories of all kinds. Some are heart-heavy and tragic. Some are bittersweet. Some are soul-stirring, inspiring, hopeful, and even, as strange as it sounds, happy.

Nature itself is one of the oldest storytellers.

“[N]ature consists of an endless series of stories,” says John A. Murray, nature writer and editor. ” . . . the continual pageant of the seasons, the incessant conflicts between predators and prey, the individual battles of lifeforms to survive, the contests involved in breeding, the cycles of pregnancy in animals and fruition in plants, the epic migrations of whales and wildebeests, the sagas of mass extinction, the passage of the solar days, the building of great storms, the formation and erosion of continents, the waxing and waning of the moon, the transit of the constellations along the zodiac, the coming and going of comets and meteor showers, the life and death of stars and galaxies, the life and death of the universe itself.”

When we witness the stories of nature – or become part of them – they become our stories, too. Be an island of calm and hope in the storm. Nurture peace, cultivate loving-kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – Leaf shadows that look like . . . a bird? A critter with big ears?:

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Book photo courtesy pexels.com

“Already it is October, and the wind blows strong to the sea

from the hills where snow must have fallen,

the wind is polished with snow.”

– D.H. Lawrence, “Butterfly” –

The shifty wind

swirls with stories –

a girl’s kite plucked high,

a beachcomber’s hair ruffled,

a gardener’s hat tossed into the rose bush,

a cafe awning dismantled,

a dog’s nose kissed.

Secret stories

shared with the wind.

“Here’s a hint,”

it whispers,

brushing past

polished with snow,

laden with rain,

woven with wood smoke.

Hush. Hush.

Listen. Listen.

It’s your story too.

Again from D.H. Lawrence: “[T]he wind blows strong . . . from the hills where snow must have fallen, the wind is polished with snow.” How beautiful it would be if people who meet us could say, “She lives strong in a place where calm must have settled. Her spirit is polished with peace.”

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – looking up and up and up: