However, I also know that to sustain the high-octane level of energy, the “Eloise” level of energy- “Oh trinkles oh trinkles sing fa la la lolly ting tingle bells there and here. It is the absolutelysiest busiest time of the year ping ping” (from Kay Thompson’s, “Eloise at Christmastime” a family favorite) one must find some way to regenerate. No surprise here that, for me, the regenerating happens outside. The morning walk. The list is long, the day is short, but without touching base in the woods and the bog, I would face it all with less cheer.
Today it was a gray dreary morning, but it wasn’t dampening my dog’s enthusiasm for getting out, nor mine either and we were rewarded with a newly flooded bog offering a newly renovated duck/goose hostel. There must have been at least 100 or more ducks and, interestingly, about 75% of them lifted off when we rounded the bend, with that wonderful whoosh of wings. And I wondered. Did the 25% of those who held their ground know Tuck and I? “Oh, it’s just those two. No that isn’t a gun, just binoculars. Not worth ruffling your feathers over.” Or were they just, in general, gutsier ducks?
But here is the magic of it, I left the house thinking there was no way I would get to the list of things I had lined up for myself, so the first leg of the walk was fairly guilt driven, “What am I nuts?” But then, the sea of mallards, the whoosh of wings and Wonder! Then all thoughts of lists vanished and it was replaced by a calmer, sheer delight in what was around me. And that is the recharge part. I still have a lot to do, but for at least a little while, I am realizing there is beauty here to calm the soul, and a lowering of blood pressure is taking place. It is what I always remind my walking ladies. “We are not here to raise our heart rate but to lower our blood pressure” and so it does.
My wish for you then, this December is that you find a moment, in all you must do, to take a moment to nurture nature. And let it nurture you right back. And as there is much to do, including enjoying my family who will return home for at least a little while, I don’t expect to find time to write again until after Christmas. I love that Christmas soliloquy from 1510 by Fra Giovanni and so I leave you with that.
“ I salute you! There is nothing I can give which you have not; but there is much, that while I cannot give you can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take Heaven.
No peace lies in the future, which is not hidden in this present instant. Take Peace.
The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach is joy. Take joy.
And so at Christmas time, I greet you, with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.”
Take Joy then, and we shall hope to return in the shadow of a New Year.
No comments:
Post a Comment