This morning I took a walk at Minnewashta Regional Park. There were families with young children already on the beach when I got there. It was sweet to see the kids digging in the sand and wading at the edge of the lake while moms and dads looked on. Each family was located in their own little socially distanced pod.
It was a lovely walk this morning
Meandering through abstract beauty
I never know when I go out with my camera what I will see. This morning my favorite sighting was the reflections in the lake beside the fishing dock. Because of the bright blue skies and the way the sun hit the water the sky reflections in the moving water looked like an abstract painting. The photo above shows what I saw. I didn’t edit this photograph in Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop because the colors and shapes were already unbelievable to me. The deep blue and brightness, the blacks, silvers, and almost whites. Who could imagine this?
“Nature is, above all, profligate. Don’t believe them when they tell you how economical and thrifty nature is, whose leaves return to the soil. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to leave them on the tree in the first place? This deciduous business alone is a radical scheme, the brainchild of a deranged manic-depressive with limitless capital. Extravagance! Nature will try anything once.”
― Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
The spider webs along the fishing dock rails also captivated me. Though the wind was blowing and they were a little tattered and torn I still found them beautiful.
Though I walk the same paths often, my walks are never the same walks as ones I took before. Each time I walk I find something new and intriguing along the way. Today there were many more signs that summer is coming to a close. Acorns on the path, fallen leaves, and the first fall colors peeked out at me through all of the shades of green.
The Wren From Carolina
by Mary Oliver
Just now the wren from Carolina buzzed
through the neighbor’s hedge
a line of grace notes I couldn’t even write down
much less sing.
Now he lifts his chestnut colored throat
and delivers such a cantering praise–
for what?
For the early morning, the taste of the spider,
for his small cup of life
that he drinks from every day, knowing it will refill.
All things are inventions of holiness.
Some more rascally than others.
I’m on that list too,
though I don’t know exactly where.
But, every morning, there is my own cup of gladness,
and there’s that wren in the hedge, above me,
with his blazing song.
Thoughts on school re-openings
The news is full of people talking about the need for children to get back to school this fall. They say that it’s better for their emotional health and that children learn better in school, and many other things. I agree that children need to have social interactions, that they need to learn, and that online learning is not ideal. Also I understand how hard it is for parents who need to work to have children learning at home. And how hard it is to tell your kids, that “No, I don’t feel safe having you return to school, even part-time,” when they want to go back so badly.
But when I take the long view and imagine one year of school lost versus the possibility of a lifetime of loss due to the long-term effects of this illness, I would choose to disappoint the children and keep them home right now.
Though I do not face this decision I wish well to all parents who are weighing the pros and cons and making decisions that work for their families.
That’s all my meanderings for today. I wish you a beautiful week.
May you walk in beauty.
Another view of the abstract beauty in the water
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