Encountering Earth

A path in the woods is filled with so many stories and lessons. Last week I went on a few short hikes, one at the Reist Preserve in Niskayuna. The path was a combo of pine duff and leaves, ice and mud. I really needed to pay close attention! As I picked my way along the path I thought about being present to a place - about being really aware of where I am and what is around me. Often I stopped looking up at the magnificent oak trees or at the spot where a woodpecker was working. I had to stop. It was a must because if I looked up while walking I could have slipped on ice or mud. I reflected on the many times I try to multitask, on the times I pay cursory attention. This walk reminded me to be present to the present - my new year's resolution! How are you reminded to be right here, right now?

Winter sun. With the coming of winter - at least because we enjoyed the solstice, not because of snow or temperatures - I have been noticing where the sun is rising and setting. Especially while visiting my family in south Jersey I saw that the sun sets in a very different spot than it does in the summer. At home, on the farm, without the city buildings, nature has a way of speaking so plainly, so freely. The rising and setting of the sun and the moon are wonderful daily events that I look forward to. Last week the moon was a crescent; Venus was so brilliant and the star Sirius shone very brightly and did Orion proud! The winter sky is full of mystery and splendor. The crisp nights seem to make the heavens sharper! My nephew and I enjoyed a bonfire and watched the stars in their constellations regale the heavens. But, back to the winter sun. My sister and I took a walk at Sunset Beach in Cape May last week. The sun was warm and danced on the water near the "concrete ship". I...

Snow...  I love the snow! This love was rekindled on Tuesday evening when I took a walk in the park. It was dusk, the snow was falling gently and gathering on the pine trees. The lake had a thin coat of ice and snowflakes made it white. Snow is so amazing. It is hard to imagine that each flake is unique!  I looked up snowflake on wiki and found: A  snowflake  is a single  ice crystal  that has achieved a sufficient size and may have amalgamated with others, then falls through the  Earth's atmosphere  as  snow .  Each flake nucleates around a dust particle in  supersaturated  air masses by attracting  supercooled  cloud water droplets, which  freeze  and accrete in crystal form. Complex shapes  emerge  as the flake moves through differing temperature and humidity zones in the atmosphere, such that individual snowflakes differ in detail from one another... It always fascinates me to look up the ...

I was fortunate to spend time at Thanksgiving with my family in south Jersey. My sister and I took a lovely walk in the woods behind the cemetery where my dad and most of his family are buried. This is the Wharton tract, a preserve of 122,880 acres in the heart of the Jersey Pine Barrens, the largest in the state. When I go online to read about Batsto Village and Wharton State Forest, it leaves me kind of cold. Facts and figures don't give the feel of home and history. The Pine Barrens are my bioregional home. I am a fourth-generation "Piney" - someone born and raised in the pines. The sandy soil, the pitch pines, cat briers, teaberry, jack oak these are my kin. The waters of the Mullica and Batsto Rivers are lifeblood. I still delight in the sweet smell of the cedar water; I relish the irony taste of the artisan well at Batsto. To walk along these rivers with their slow, serpentine meanderings is like walking with a friend. The feel of pine duff and sand beneath my feet...

Last week I took a walk on the bike path along the Mohawk River. I tried to pay attention to the changes in the river since the weather turned cooler. First of all, the invasive water chestnuts that had chocked the shore were gone and the water ran freely. The reeds and the cattails were turning brown and struggling to stay upright in the Autumn wind. The geese were gathering close to shore; mallards too. An ice coating formed on the water. It was thin and subtle, but it foretold the coming of the winter. The water of the Mohawk would be stilled by the ice, resting from its labors. I love to watch the freeze-up process -  some years huge chunks of ice cover the river.  Paying attention was the gift of the day. The river was speaking of this transition to winter; it told many tales. I love this river that braids through Schenectady. It has its story and mine is included with it.  Tenonanatche is its native Mohawk name - "a river flowing through a mountain". Native names a...

Leaves... I love this quote, "Lord, let your love fall down on us like Autumn leaves". The leaves are such blessings to the whole community of life. They thrill us with color. They tantalize us with textures. They gentle our path and make music as we walk through them. Squirrels use them for nests. Little critters like bugs hide in them. The forest floor rejoices in receiving the abundance of prospective new soil and insulation from icy winter storms. Often times they are seen as a nuisance - work in raking or leaf blowing, collecting, bagging, etc. Truth be told our landlady has someone do these tasks so I can wax poetically about the leaves. But I have been trying to pay more attention to each leaf - each has a journey, each is unique. I focus on each singularity, never to be repeated leaf - well of course not everyone, but a few individuals! A leaf caught in a fence, a leaf spinning from an oak tree, a leaf floating on the water of a pond. The veins in the leaf help me...

Fall is one of my favorite seasons! The colors are rich and luscious. The textures of trees and branches being un-dressed and plants showing their inners are so fascinating. The crunching of the leaves, the calling of the geese, the last songs of the crickets create a symphony of sounds. Last week I walked the towpath at the Vischer's Ferry Preserve. The marsh was resplendent in its dying. Cattails were turning from green to yellow; their tails were bursting open with soft, plushy fiber that holds their seeds. Reeds were yet refusing to bend to frost, so they set a green background. The vines were brilliant crimson. Oaks put on a deep copper color. Maples flamed in reds and oranges. Poplars seemed unimaginative and turned yellow and brown. I kept saying to myself- pay attention! When did you ever see such an amazing palate? Drink in the beauty and the wonder of how nature dies in style! What do you love about Fall? Please share it!