Gratitude for Being a Well Keeper, March 17, 2024

Awake before dawn to a song of steady rain.

Excited. Ready to simply Be.

To listen, connect and celebrate.

A Day of Silence, yet more expansive somehow.

Gratitude for this community of Well Keepers.

The pulse of gentle rain,

An invitation to enter this day slowly.

Everything soft and slow.

No Hasting. Simply Be.

A morning of unexpected creative flow as words for

My book suddenly pour out of me onto lined pages.

No efforting. Just flowing from a place of ease.

Why? Because I'm not trying?

Is this place of Being where creativity is born?

By late morning I am quietly surrounded by gratitude and grace.

Nestled here in New Hampshire between

Linda in Hawaii yesterday,

Candan in Spain tomorrow,

I feel this glorious weave of Well Keepers around the world.

Nourishing ourselves, one another and this glorious earth.

Midday I sit with a cup of tea gazing out at a classic

Winter about to touch Spring day in New England.

The rain has given way to patches of blue sky and puffy clouds.

Seemingly out of nowhere I hear the strum of rain.

The blue has disappeared.

Soon it is quiet again and the room fills with light.

Moments after heading out into my woods I hear the

Pelting of little ice balls falling through the trees.

Yes, tiny white balls of hail the size of kosher salt crystals.

All hail, oh wondrous earth, for such a thrilling display.

It passes quickly giving way again to sunshine.

What a day of contrasts, Mother Nature putting on a show.

Seemingly just for me, perhaps in honor of my Well Keeping.

Home again, another cup of tea and more ice falls from the sky.

I read my Yogi tea bag quote saying,

“Without the storms and rain, life would cease to be.”

My final foray outside is down to the trail that leads to Welches.

Marveling at the casual rock walls on either side of me,

I can feel and almost see the people who built them.

A purely practical creation as many hands worked to clear the land.

The sun pokes through for moments and then it happens again!

First the sound, followed by little salt like balls for a quick burst.

Then quiet gives way to the rushing water tripping over rocks,

And twigs snapping beneath my feet.

Above and Below.

The gifts of nature remind me that I am never alone.

My companion during my inside hours has been Robin Wall Kimmerer.

After years on the shelf and recently moved to my bedside table,

“Braiding Sweetgrass” called to me again several days ago.

Not planned for this day, but the perfect accompaniment.

Reading about how breathing in the scent of sweetgrass,

“You start to remember things you didn't know you'd forgotten.”

 And how “our elders say that ceremonies are the way we remember to remember.”

Time somehow expands during this quiet day of Being.

No hasting.

Slow, calm, connected.

At peace, gentle, full of grace.

With gratitude for this day of Remembering.

For the invitation to join in this collective creation.

For all of the Well Keepers around the world.

For this sweet earth that teaches and holds us all.

Today helped me “Remember to Remember.”