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Spring-ish

Looking at the calendar I can say that it must be spring. Looking at the weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow I want to say “Ish!” so it must be Spring-ish right now. Tomorrow with  probable new snow on the ground will be a kind of April Fool’s joke, not the kind I enjoy. So today I decided to look back through photos from years past at what spring looked like at the end of March. It was surprisingly varied. I remembered several March trips, to Hawaii in 2011, to Nebraska to see the sandhill crane migration in 2015, and Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

What Now?

I was talking with a friend recently and she asked an interesting question about purpose and age. She had recently celebrated a milestone birthday and wondered What Now? How should she be spending her days? What purpose(s) should she be pursuing? What really matters at this stage in her life? I suggested that the most important things she could do now (and always) were to choose joy, practice gratitude, and seek out wonder and awe as frequently as possible. For me, the regular practice of making photographs ticks off all those things. I experience great joy, see beauty in unexpected Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

A Day of Rest and Ducks in the Pond

The day before yesterday I saw the first signs of water at the edge of the mostly frozen pond. Then yesterday late afternoon I saw Ducks in the Pond for the first time this spring! There wasn’t much space for them to swim in but they were dabbling and finding something to eat there at the edge of the pond. You have to look closely to see them, but there are two male mallards and one female mallard feeding in the small patch of melt water. The melt continues to slowly proceed, though I have been wishing for it to Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

Alive Now

I’ve been thinking about what it means to be Alive Now, in this moment, longing for spring to arrive, waiting, wanting, wishing, dreaming of green things growing. Can I be content despite the continuing cold nights, barely warming days, frozen lakes and ponds, white covered ground? It seems that I am often yearning for something I think I need to make my days complete, whether it is a season, an activity, a feeling, or something I think I cannot live without. The practice of mindfulness and presence helps me to see when I get caught up in such longing rather Read more…

By Marilyn, ago

The Melt

The first day of spring arrived and the ground was still covered with snow. But somehow, it feels different now, as if spring really is arriving. When I look out my bedroom window in the morning I can see that The Melt has begun. The surface of the snow looks different, as if it is receding from below. And ever so slowly the snow IS receding day by day. On the first day of spring I decided to document the melt, photographing the view from my meditation chair beside my bedroom window. Here are the photos from the first three Read more…

By Marilyn, ago