Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Shimmering Raindrops



There are days here that pull me into profound presence - I am walking prayer. One 
recent afternoon, when finally the relentless storms cleared, I took my tea to the moss
garden. It seemed that the whole forest came alive to celebrate. One frog began the chorus, then hundreds joined in. The trees filled with chickadees, wood thrushes, and warblers, all gathered around this little clearing to sing. Hemlock trunks steamed as 
they warmed in the sun, their boughs filled with drops of water sparkling red and green and blue. It was at this moment, while watching tiny colored raindrops shimmering 
on the end of branches, that my spirit bowed in reverence. 


For a long while I sat and listened, entranced and deeply present with this mossy
bit of earth. Moments that catch and take me are both grounding and expansive. 
There is nothing more profound than experiencing these both within one moment. 
I feel true presence as rigid as bone and as wide as the space between breaths. 


When eventually the chorus quieted some, I meandered through the paths, 
careful not to step on the red efts who come out in abundance in the rain.  
They look so striking against the green mosses. I've been musing lately about 
these amphibians. They begin in water as larvae, then come out to land in 
their red eft form, then go back into the water and transform into adults. It 
came to me one day that maybe we humans have this kind of experience - from 
the source to our embryonic beginnings, to life on land, then back to source. 


I'll leave you with the rest of my photos from wandering that wet, WET afternoon. 

















25 comments:

stregata said...

O magical, magical! I have only once seen a red eft, long ago as a child - such an exquisite little creature. I have been fascinated by newts ever since. Thank you for sharing!

A mermaid in the attic said...

Beautiful, just beautiful Valerianna. Here autumn has finally made its entrance, though very late. The earth smells fertile again, though digging in the garden I still find bone dry, hydrophobic soil a few inches down. It will take many more rain soakings to penetrate the dryness. And my poor fruit trees are woefully confused...the almond thinks it is spring and is flowering, while the apricot hasn't even lost its summer leaves yet. But it is cool, the nights are chilly, and I can hear so much more birdsong than in the heat of summer, it's as if they're waking up too, just like me and the nasturtiums that are popping up all over the garden. It's a pleasure to be out in it, though living in suburbia as I do, I have to try and filter out the sounds of traffic and airplanes! Thank you again for reminding me of my dream to find that sacred space in the bush. I'll get there yet!

illustration poetry said...

Witches worship this :))

xoxo

yew tree nights said...

Gorgeous! Gorgeous! You are making me homesick for all those animal and bird songs and everything from North America.

steven said...

i'm very drawn to water in the woods and i'm grateful for these shared moments of real beauty valerianna. steven

Penny Berens said...

We've had way too many raindrops around here for me to feel good about them lately! But your post, Valerianna, is enough to make me fall in love with the rain and the water-logged woods again.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Gorgeous forest living.. so fresh! we must be experiencing the same weather pattern.. but there is beauty in everything isn't there...

I haven't seen any red efts yet this year.. I'll start looking for them now that our new gallery set-up is under control.

Lauren Raine said...

Thank you for this walk across your landscape, and your way of knowing so intimately the land. Living in the desert, where the advent of June means water is so very precious in the heat, when everything goes indoors to escape it........I'm touched with memory reading and seeing your photos and art.

We come from the Source, and return..........like your spirals, which say that so elequently to me.

kd said...

Thank you for taking me into the forest with you this morning. Beautiful: the blessing of moisture and forest

Unknown said...

Oh V - you make me glad and homesick; I will be back on my Island up north a week from yesterday. Thanks for the preview of green, wet, mossy Forest which I have been missing very much here in the Colorado suburbs.

Tammie Lee said...

sounds as though you had a wonderfully nurturing time, ah, and my breath slows and deepens... in reading and looking at your post. love those little red orange critters!

Rowan said...

Lovely post - moments like this are rare and very special.

Windsongs and Wordhoards said...

Beautiful forest pictures Valerianna, and living in such a place it does not surprise me you find such profound spiritual moments of connectedness. You are obviously right where you belong... Thankyou for sharing your experience, it is very inspiring and also reminds me what is missing in a too busy life...

ramona said...

Magical photos. I love the jewel like droplets of rain on the plant leaves.
Thank you, thank you, thank you:)))

DonnaQ said...

Oh, the moss garden is so enchanting. It's easy to see how it could inspire peace and prayer!

Velma Bolyard said...

beautiful wet long walk. so much like the forest here. and the efts, so funny these curious creatures. no bugs to plague you? what i heard in your words was awe. when i used to ride in the woods i could feel my horse relax under me. and so i would, too.

Karen said...

Thank you for sharing this glimpse into your sacred moments. And thankyou for introducing me to the red eft. :)

Ash said...

I literally stumbled across you whilst searching for images of 'tall trees' - I felt an echo in myself from the way you spoke of your landscape, and your profile and how you find expression in creativity and felt I should just say hello. I am haltingly finding my way with my landscape here in Britain, exploring our myths and legends and trying to find its expression in myself - you seemed like someone that might understand that! I enjoyed the window you gave into your space. Regards.

Acornmoon said...

How serene, thank you for this enchanting post. What is behind the red door I wonder?

(Karen) Lisa Daley said...

Just beautiful!

Donna Iona Drozda said...

I always love going on walks with you and Pasha and this one is particularly entrancing for me...being a northern girl now living south I need to come visit your land often, I need to hear the frogs trill and see the eft making her way across the moss...
I love seeing the way that you see the world through your gently empowered artist eye.

helen said...

'I am walking prayer'....I love that.

Thank you for this serenity~walk and for introducing me to red efts....they are delightful. We have newts and frogs in our tiny little garden pond and I love them....they make me happy.

Your images are beautiful.

Yvette said...

It seemed I walked with you....thanks!

rivergardenstudio said...

I have never seen a red eft, and it is very beautiful... she would be so fun to paint. I love your moss garden, the seating area, and your little shed, (studio?). And your walking prayer is beautiful too, especially about your moments that are both "grounding and expansive."
Have a happy week,
roxanne

trish said...

That was just beautiful. Thank you for sharing.x