It has been a perfect wide-open-window weather week. This morning it was cool enough that it felt good cuddling underneath the covers in the early morning light. I love weather like this!
I’ve been enjoying picking and eating my black raspberries this week also. Tasting their juicy sweetness takes me back to my childhood when we grew strawberries, cherries, black raspberries, rhubarb, and apples in addition to a large vegetable garden. Summertime in my childhood felt like moving through feasting on whatever was in season (as well as canning and freezing for the rest of the year). I loved the days when we ate all the fresh produce we could eat savoring the just picked goodness of the food.
I only have 2 black raspberry plants but they are huge plants and quite prolific. They began ripening several days ago. Each day this week I picked about a quart of berries although today the birds had eaten quite a few of the ripe berries before I was able to pick them. I love feasting on in-season berries so much that I rarely try to freeze them for winter. They lose so much in the freezing process.
While I was eating breakfast I noticed a family of blue jays breakfasting on my black raspberries . At first I saw them gathering in the river birch tree and was fully enjoying their presence. Then I noticed them flying back and forth to my black raspberry bushes and I was no longer so thrilled with their presence. (Funny how that happens.)
I ran to the back of the house and yelled out the window above the black raspberries, frightening 2 blue jays and an oriole from the berry patch. Then I hurried to dress, go out to pick the remaining ripe berries, and put up a bird net to protect the berries.
Last year I had used bird netting to protect the berries but this year I decided to wait and see whether I needed to protect them with netting. It’s a real hassle putting up and taking down the netting and I’m not against sharing a few berries with the birds. The first 3 days the birds didn’t bother the berries too much. But the bird telegraph must have been active because today’s experience showed me that clearly I was loosing more than just a few berries to the gang of birds hanging out in the back yard.
After getting the raspberry bushes under control I moved my daily meditation to our deck this morning. I’m finding that I love spending time outdoors with the trees, gentle breeze, and bird song.
It has changed my meditation experience. Monkey mind (that wandering/planning/rehearsing/remembering/judging/thinking part of my mind that is always active) seems even more active and persistent in this outdoor space. I’m not sure why.
In some ways I am even more immersed in the senses of my body as I notice the soft touch of the breeze on my arms, hear birdsong and other sounds, smell the scents of flowers in bloom or freshly mowed lawns, and see the trees and the ever-changing light. It seems easy to focus on these sensations or on each breath as my body inhales and exhales without effort, but for whatever reason, the landscape of my mind is busier than ever.
I do better if I close my eyes but when I am outside I love soaking in the sights as well as the sounds, scents, and touch of the breeze. I’ve decided that being fully immersed in nature is as good for me as stilling my mind. There is no one right way.
I’ve noticed that whenever I see a bird soaring through the air that my spirit lifts. It’s as if I am soaring through the air along with the bird. Although this morning I was intending to meditate I became fascinated with quietly watching the blue jays and a woodpecker in the tree near where I was sitting. Because I was so quiet they went about their bird business within a few feet of me and I was able to enjoy their beauty closeup.
When was the last time you sat outdoors and listened to the birds sing, felt the breeze on your skin, and smelled the sweet scents of summer?
May you walk in beauty.
Note: Photos are from my garden and back yard and my trip to the North Shore last week.
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