Morningtide

Early morning by the pond

What is there beyond knowing that keeps
calling to me? I can’t
turn in any direction
but it’s there. I don’t mean
the leaves’ grip and shine or even the thrush’s
silk song, but the far-off
fires, for example,
of the stars, heaven’s slowly turning
theater of light or the wind
playful with its breath;
or time that’s always rushing forward,
or standing still
in the same – what shall I say –
moment.
What I know
I could put into a pack
as if it were bread and cheese, and carry it
on one shoulder,
important and honorable, but so small!
While everything else continues, unexplained
and unexplainable. How wonderful it is
to follow a thought quietly
to its logical end.
I have done this a few times.
But mostly I just stand in the dark field,
in the middle of the world, breathing
in and out. Life so far doesn’t have any other name
but breath and light, wind and rain.
If there’s a temple, I haven’t found it yet.
I simply go on drifting, in the heaven of the grass
and the weeds.

~ Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems Volume Two

I am hesitant to follow that beautiful poem with my own words.  It expresses so well some of what I felt on my early morning walk, watching as the sun lit up the grasses, weeds, and flowers in the meadows.

It looks almost like autumn, doesn’t it?  The seasons have been hurrying along as if they have somewhere else more important to be.

Today’s view of the pond

It was very warm this morning, the air heavy.  All that steaminess, all that moisture, concentrated in the air.  None of it gathering on the plants as dew, or in the clouds as rain.

I like the easy productivity that accompanies an early rising.  Yoga, slow and smooth and present.  A pot of tea steeping.  A walk in the meadows at sunrise, listening to the birds as they sing the world awake.  Two loads of laundry washed and hung out on the line before breakfast.  Household chores finished before lunch.  The rest of day wide open with the precious gift of free time.

Not a lot of free time, though.  I have to get the house ready for the housesitter.  Pack my bags.  Prepare for our trip east, work my way through my checklist.  Things to put out for the housesitter.  Things to take along.  I dread the time in the car, but look forward to visiting with family and friends.

Let’s take a walk in the meadows just after sunrise.

The morning, which is the most memorable season of the day, is the awakening hour.  Then there is least somnolence in us; and for an hour, at least, some part of us awakes which slumbers all the rest of the day and night.

~ Henry David Thoreau

That’s about it from me and from the Bogs for today.  Thank you for visiting, and joining me on an early morning walk.  I hope it brought you as much peace and joy as it brought me.

P.S.  I’ve scheduled a few posts to fill in for me the next few days.  After that, we can all enjoy a much-deserved break.

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