The Great Mother

Spring sunshine and brilliant blue skies are the order of the day as I stare out the kitchen window waiting for the kettle to finish boiling water for tea. Already, the six-room house I had installed for feathered guests up on the hill is a kaleidoscope of fluttering wings as a host of sparrows and bluebirds move in and prepare their nests. It’s such a joy to witness nature’s allegiance to new life.

I write about nature a lot because Mother Nature has become my mother, my church, and my playground. In this contemplative period of life, I find peace and clarity in the outdoors. Hiking in the woods or walking the country roads in our neighborhood, has taught me to pay attention, to expect magic, and to trust life even when the world feels unsettling and unsafe.

Mother Nature has reliable rhythms, instinctual patterns that can be trusted. And she has an extraordinary ability to adapt to change. Just last week while hiking in the park near our home, I stopped, once again, to admire a giant maple tree with three twisted trunks. Standing proud by the river, she looked like a graceful dancer having learned to bend to the strong winds coming from the Northeast. When I visit, I’m reminded to yield more, to flow with the movement of life rather than against it, and to trust that things will work out without my having to butt in all the time.

Nature is a university filled with simple wisdom about what it takes to live well. Howling winds that remove dead limbs from trees, waterways that carve new paths through earth and stone, or tiny hummingbirds who return to feast on favorite flowers become fierce and fragile messengers. Clear out the old, says the wind. Stay the course, declares the river, especially when something is hard but important. Return to what feeds you say the hummingbirds…and enjoy every drop.

As I watch tiny sparrows flitting from branch to branch above their new home, I think about feathering my own nest. I’m off to look at plants for the garden that will soon come to life in our backyard.

Happy Mother’s Day to you and to Mother Nature herself. Long may she reign…

Love,

Cheryl