Cedar

Winter day
Cloudy sky
Stillness
Except the birds
Who seek
Food.

Above
The deafening silence
The red shouldered hawk
Calls
From the pecan trees
Of my childhood...

Crows
'Caw'
In the south...
The fly westward
Chasing
The hawk
Of out THEIR woods...

And still the hawk
Calls...

Wren knows this call
Is not the call
Of the hunt.
She returns to her song...

A brown creeper
Scratches its way up the pine
Chickadee and titmouse
Fly to and from...

A ruby crowned kinglet
Hangs upside down
Fetching its meal...

Still the hawk calls

Still the crows chase...

Until
It
Stops...

Until
It leaps
Into
Flight
Air catching under his wings

In one
Powerful
Wing beat...
His body lifts
Easily
To the sky.

In the flash of a mere second
The voice that filled
The silence
Becomes the voice
Of the silence...

The world
Returns
To winter.

Hawkes Forest

I listened to a red shouldered hawk call from the top of an oak.

And then, I went in search of it.

My first thought was why was it calling?

Then I heard another in the south responding each time.

While I was pausing to watch this giant majestic and noisy bird the cardinals were dashing to and from the tree line right beside it.

The hawk was clearly not hunting this morning.  It seemed to be watching the hold where the ground hogs come out of the woods to feed in the field...

Paw

I was with a friend today.  We were talking about lands, earth, and discovery.  We were discussing the roles of elders and ancestors in our lives.  As we reached the peak of our conversation on the topic of ancestors and elders a mighty wind blew her door open and stoked the fire in her wood stove.  Naturally, this brought us to a pause in conversation...

A breath...

And with a gentle exhalation...

We gave a deep bow of thanks to those upon whose shoulders we stand as we continue to live our complicated and yet rich lives.  

Thank you to all those who have helped me, taught me, paved the way for me...

Thank you to my loved ones...

For us all...

We are so blessed for the paths you have taken with your bodies, your hearts, and your spirits.

Hawkes Creek

'Talent or Un-talent it doesn't even matter. It's about getting up there, having fun, and being yourself...Even if they laugh it doesn't matter here...' This statement was made by my friend Isabelle ,who is 8, at the Wild Intelligence talent/untalented show today.

I totally agree with her.

Sometimes we have to own who we are, where we are, and what is happening around us to show up and get on the stage of life. AND it is important to have fun while doing it. Sometimes it's really scary but at least in the company of nature who I am in my heart is always enough. Thank you Isabelle for the reminder.