The Peace of Wild Things

Because it is January in Minnesota, I am spending less time outdoors with the wild things. And my soul is noticing it. I need…

The Peace of Wild Things

             

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

   — Wendell Berry  

Lately every time I walk some heel pain that I’ve been trying to heal since early September kicks up. It tends to ebb and flow but recently I’ve noticed that walking outside in my boots tends to make it worse. Yesterday after my 15 minute walk outside I was hobbling around the house in a lot of pain, and today I’m still limping.

Pandemic Puzzles

It’s a great conundrum for me. Do I stop walking outside and end up sitting around far more than is healthy? Or do I keep walking outside and live with the pain that it is causing right now?

Because of the pandemic I don’t want to go to a fitness center to workout. And I also don’t want to buy a piece of exercise equipment that I know will end of sitting in our basement gathering dust. (I know from past experience with a Nordic Track machine and an exercise bike that I hardly ever used.)

Sitting here in my office warm and cozy, with all I need to eat, my camera, and computer, I think that this is probably a problem I can let go of for now. I am still blessed beyond belief and privileged to live the life I am leading.

I return to…

Practicing Gratitude

Today I am grateful for…

• Seeing parents and children out on the pond skating and playing
• The beauty I see through our windows every single day
• My amaryllis flowers that leave me breathless with their beauty and grace
• The dead mouse Gracie, our cat, left as a present for us this morning at the foot of our bed. I was sad for the mouse but also thankful that she brought it to us instead of stashing it somewhere out of sight
• And so much more…

Do you also feel the peace of wild things?

What are you grateful for today my friends?

May you walk in beauty.