Dear Citizen,

(Prior post, worth pondering again...)
It is entirely up to you how you interpret this photo. The nature lover in me notes it as a message from Mother...

Dear Citizen,

   You seem to have become preoccupied since my last message...are you paying attention?! You of all people, camera in hand, eyes like a near sighted hawk- I've left little notes for you everywhere. Remember the Garter Snake you stepped on just last week? A surprise to you I'm sure, but a note from me none the less.  Take heed! The beauty all around is a gift from me to you and yours, but have you done enough to promote it's significance? 

   The fields are aplenty, but the soil/soul of nature has been neglected and abused. The tiniest of hosts have been starved...the plants, the roots that I have created are in dire need of compassion. The forests, if allowed- will heal themselves, the air and waters too. I have created an ecological model that sustains itself, will right itself in time. However- the good stewards of the land are most appreciated and are indeed needed for their necessary work in feeding their fellow man's heart,spirit and very existence. (The protests though at times seem a bit off the mark. Solutions are needed here...not more fighting.)

   With a higher sense of purpose and above all praise- show the politician, the people, the masses through prose, poetry and pictures like the old masters did; a beauty they may not comprehend.

   It is the heart of the poet that must convey the absolute essential worth of nature. The words must move one from an insincere security to a beautiful truth.

   All one has to do when confronted with beauty is acknowledge with gratitude how restorative to one's soul a mighty oak, a sunset, a Monarch, a tiny frog, a Preying Mantis, a deep lake, a rushing river, a Grizzly Bear, a welcoming wind...truly is.

   Enjoy this day. It is yours as it always has been, to freely do and make of it what you will. I do request with an earnest plea-

Deeply consider the beauty and begin again and again and again...to preserve it.

Thank you,

Mother




(T.L Starks 09/01/2008)

The World Is New Each Morning...

"-that is God's gift, and a man should believe he is reborn each day." Israel Ben Eliezer
For truly I was renewed over the weekend, the ice and the snow-such beauty to behold. My camera (well, Lily's camera...)poised, a world of wonder awaited each precious framing. My intent was to say very little this morning, to post many pictures and let them speak for themselves, but blogger had other ideas and the photo above was the only one to be posted. Those geese flew overhead, low and slow-their wings saluted me in greeting, I whispered "Good morning" to them. And the sound of crackling and snow falling is like no other, a quiet solitude, a brain silencer an eye opener, I cannot help to feel so elated, to smile inwardly and outwardly. I did prep a bit for the storms-five buckets full of five gallons of water in the basement, salt on the sidewalks and the path to the barn. Old pickup resting comfortably in the shed, never moving, hibernating out there-hopefully this morning I can wake her up from her bear-like slumber, for I am sure she will growl and be hard to rouse. I was certain of an electrical outage-last year I was off the grid for 5 days, no water, basement flooding, boiler stranded like an island with water quickly threatening to cancel her function should the electricity return. I remember falling down the steps as I baled water from the basement to water the animals, remember sitting at the base of the stairs thoroughly soaked and sore and crying. I remember getting up and going to the living room to use the phone and call a friend, looking up to see Granny and Grandad standing out in there field in the picture and reminding me that they were pioneers and had no electricity for many of their years, their eyes scolding me as if to say "get up girl, dry your tears and get on with it, we had it so much harder!" I remember sucking it up at that moment, calling the friend with heat and dryness, (sniffling a little)- to share my thoughts of broken bones, and could I come over later for a hug, heat, and coffee. But this morning, I am also remembering yesterday and it's restorative power, as it has found me a new morning today, another beginning,a being reborn, again. Stay warm, take care-