“To go in the dark with a light is to know the light. To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.” - Wendell Berry
Hello friends! As we enter the days of the year with the most darkness, I get to share one of my favorite poems again. I’m excited for an entire week off work and as a bonus, most of the company shuts down so usually we don’t return to a flooded inbox. That is a Christmas miracle!
Here are some moments of beauty for today:
A golden sunrise, December 17, 2024
A friend I rarely see, a hairy woodpecker!
They are so fast when they take off, but one day I will capture those wings a little better.
It’s the most amazing feeling when I’m sitting on the ground and a little bird like this horned grebe swims directly in towards me.
To see the drops of water on his back, the red of his eye, and know that both he and I are safe in that moment is such a blessing.
And then when I know he’s going to dive and I just hope when he comes back up he will still be nearby.
There he goes, disappearing with barely a splash.
When it’s cold enough, even the lens flare is more interesting. Sunrise, November 29, 2024.
We haven’t had many truly cold mornings, I’m making the most of the ones we have!
I might look like that too if I was sitting between spikes as big as my body! (bluebird)
I mean - THAT BLUE!
Photos from November I finally got to - Robin really comes into her own in the fall.
American tree sparrow hiding out in the bushes.
Best junco pose of the year so far!
Twinkle lights, nature edition.
Let’s take advantage of the darkness to get a little extra rest!
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Solstice blessing to you dear Karen with deep gratitude for all the beauty you share with the world. And let's hear it for the dark- did you know that apparently scientists estimate that 95% of the matter in the universe is Dark Matter (matter that does not reflect light so we cannot see it but we can perceive its gravitational pull.) So, all that we see (and we see a lot- the Hubble telescope showed us 100 billion other galaxies) is only 5%. A reminder of just how small and brief we are- and yet how connected we are to the hugeness. Maria Popova writes that if we take in even some of the reality it will make us "wonder smitten." I love that term and am grateful for your photos which contribute to that wonder.
I've come to appreciate Solstice more and more as the years pass to where it has become my most favored celebration day; holding the darkest dark while foreshadowing the coming of renewal and regeneration, the reemergence of the light. The perfect time for embracing the quiet hours, the deepening of slow hours, the gathering around the lamp light under star lite skies. And a perfect time to have 'time' off!
Solstice blessing to you dear Karen with deep gratitude for all the beauty you share with the world. And let's hear it for the dark- did you know that apparently scientists estimate that 95% of the matter in the universe is Dark Matter (matter that does not reflect light so we cannot see it but we can perceive its gravitational pull.) So, all that we see (and we see a lot- the Hubble telescope showed us 100 billion other galaxies) is only 5%. A reminder of just how small and brief we are- and yet how connected we are to the hugeness. Maria Popova writes that if we take in even some of the reality it will make us "wonder smitten." I love that term and am grateful for your photos which contribute to that wonder.
I've come to appreciate Solstice more and more as the years pass to where it has become my most favored celebration day; holding the darkest dark while foreshadowing the coming of renewal and regeneration, the reemergence of the light. The perfect time for embracing the quiet hours, the deepening of slow hours, the gathering around the lamp light under star lite skies. And a perfect time to have 'time' off!