YAAAAY BUGS!
The bugs are out! Little ones that get in your eyes and nose and sometimes your mouth! Mosquitoes that bite and make you itch for days. They're annoying as hell, but you know what I say?

I say hooray for bugs!!!!
The bugs are back! even though we humans try our very best with super toxins to kill the damn things, they are still with us. And thank goodness!!

Wecome them!

Why? Who needs bugs???
​
We do!!!

Most of you probably aren"t old enough to remember the old days when you drove your car down the road, by the time you got there, your windshield was covered in bugs. In the old days they didn't even have those sprayers to clean the windshield and you had to just put on the wipers and wash it when you got home. Then you would notice that the whole front of the car was a giant fly catcher. It was plastered with bugs!
But no more. Now you barely notice any bugs on your windshield as you drive. 
But did you know that bugs are the very bottom of the food chain? So many creatures feed on bugs, and other creatures feed on those creatures until you get to the top of the food chain. And you know who is at the top???  
We are !!! we're on the top of the food chain. So to keep pretty lawns and grow perfect fruits and vegetables, we poison them, and poison other life, and poison ourselves! It's insane! We are cutting  off the branch we are sitting on!
 
We need an attitude adjustment !
A different  way of being with the world-  less arrogant and less ignorant of how themworld actually works, more curious about the world and everyone"s place in it. We need more humility and more knowledge , more kindness, and a much better attitude toward our fellow world travelers. We're all in this together, and we rise and fall together.

Hooray for the bugs!
 

The Wise Ones say,  "After enlightenment, carry water, chop wood."

Such wise advice. What they mean by that is that no matter how enlightened we become, we are in this dimension to learn through the experiences of the body; so that we can continue to explore who we are as souls . These every daily tasks  like carrying water and chopping wood show us how much it takes to maintain life, making us aware of the great gift that life is.

Today we are so inundated with conveniences, that few of us ever get to chop wood or carry water. Everything we need is made easy to get.  
We turn on the faucet and water comes out.
We go to the market, and there is food on the shelves.
We turn up the thermostat and we get heat.
But it has not always been this way. In fact our life of conveniences is relatively new.

Our ancestors understood what it meant to find water every day, to gather enough food to live another day, to heal the body and mind with herbs, to create community, to survive the unexpected.

Life took a lot of work and it gave our ancestors a deep appreciation of who we are, how the forces in the universe work, and why we are here. With the loss of these essential life lessons, we struggle to make sense of it all. Especially in this electronic age where we get lost in the ethers of virtual reality. Who are we, when nothing is real?

Yet there is a very simple way to bring us back into our reality. It is to express gratitude for every thing that exists in our lives. 

Thank the water when you turn on the tap and take a drink or take a shower. It will go a long way. The water hears you and responds with gratitude. It sets up a cycle of love and caring that grows in all directions, creating well being for all. 

Thank the wood that keeps you warm.

 Thank the plants and animals for sustaining your body.

Thank the ancestors who have made it possible for you to be here now. Their lives have made it possible for you to be in this time and place

Thank your body for carrying you on this great adventure of life. 

Thank the Earth for giving you a home. 

Gratitude is a powerful elixir ; it will give you peace, a sense of having enough, of being enough, of being loved and cared for.

A sense of Being Joyful. 

Of just Being.

.

Moonlight shows the way
​as dry crunching snow echoes the penetrating cold of a Wolf Moon.

​Nature is always speaking to us if we are open to listen. 


When I am outdoors, certain subjects and scenes draw me in, demanding I look closer, deeper. There is a message here...

At the moment a connection is made, my finger responds with a press of the button.
I have created a moment of connection! The DECISIVE MOMENT!

Later when I revisit my images, I begin to see and hear the subtle messages.

For those of you who have been fortunate enough to ever be printing pictures in a darkroom, you know the magic of a black and white image slowly growing on blank paper until it finally reveals itself fully. VOILA! It is that sort of moment.

In these fabulous days when summer is quietly winding down, and we feel the changes announcing themselves in our bloodstream, I feel the impulse to go down to the River for a final swim and a grateful farewell to summer! 

I am Leaf.
I wear a proud green coat.

A sudden morning frost renders it bright red, yellow, and orange in a sprinkle of
patterns.
This makes me feel very special, different from all the others.
A sudden gust of wind tears me from my mother tree.

I am orphan;
gently held on a breath, gliding, dancing, and spinning on a breeze.
Free at last!
dizzy!
descending.
I touch the earth;
she greets me gladly,
gathering her children around her.

“Now dear ones, you have a vital task ahead. “
I lay still on the ground listening for her instructions,
My colors begin to fade into the ground
I have a Brown coat. I am one with Mother Earth.
protecting new life
till warmth returns.

​ 
 
I am horse.
 
I command the earth with my  power,  beauty, and speed. I am poetry in motion.
 
 My  remarkable eyes see all around me from the front to the back. The slightest movement does not escape me. With my emotional supersense,  I can read the emotional state of my clan – together we read the environment, and intuit danger before it appears.
 
Many humans fear my strength and size.  I quickly read the emotional state of the upright people so that I can better protect myself.  Most of them are not to be trusted; they always have an agenda. Why can’t they just be with me, without expecting something? I have so much to offer if they are open to hear it. I must find ways to outsmart them. In their presence I am wary and do not show my true nature.   Men crave my power, so they pretend to master me.
 
There are others, mainly women, who tap into my emotional gifts, and we are both richly rewarded when we partner together in harmony and respect.
 
For me there is no greater pleasure than a roll in the grass. To feel the earth scratch my back, relieve my itches, and fill my nostrils with loamy earthy smells,….ah.. that is pure delight. Then I I push my nose into the fragrant grasses and wild flowers, and rip them onto the delights of my tongue.  Again, pure delight. And in the afternoon sun, I can lay down in the tall grass, and soak in its rays of pure bliss.
 
My family clan is everything to me. I protect my mare with my teeth and hooves, and the entirety of my being. In return she leads my harem and offspring with her great wisdom and feral instinct for safety and survival. She is my world.
 
At night we stand close together bound by the moonlight and stars. The moon offers us peace, guidance, and contentment. The stars are maps in the night sky that place us in space and hold a space for us in the cosmos.
 
I know my name.  
 
I know who I am in the universe.

​

​

​SUMMER SUN
 
August is the ancient  Celtic celebration of Lughnasa. Lugh is the sun god, the bringer and nurturer of life. He is the scorching heat and blinding light of summer that produces the spectacular growth of plant and animal life. It is a joyous time to gather and celebrate the abundance created by our own hard work and the goodness of nature. At the equinox, Lugh’s intensity  gradually begins to lessen; slowly , slowly sliding into darkness and scarcity. But for now,  all life celebrates the joy of abundance and ease.
 
As the light diminishes nature has her own way of showing gratitude to our life giver.  The fields become crowded with yellow flowers.
 
 Yellow is the light of the sun; the more we make, the longer the light will last. As if to say;
 
 
We see you.
We radiate your goodness and joy.
We acknowledge and thank you for your service;.
            We even look like you, holding on to this reflection for just a while longer.
            A  million little suns cheerfully reflecting the goodness of love and light.

If you have ever bitten into a soft, red summer peach and felt your mouth tingle with sheer delight, time stops for a moment, as the juice runs down your chin and forearms; you are experiencing the pure, ultimate joy of summer!

And that pure joy is a reminder of the pure love that is life, that creates life; that creates the trees, the soil, the wind and rain, and sun. And finally….the fat , juicy peach.

The peach tree gives you her masterpiece gladly. She knows she is fulfilling her destiny, which is to make many seeds and many children. Then she asks you to spread them far and wide. That is the exchange. You get pure delight in exchange for spreading her offspring.

That Is how the world works. It is the principle underlying all creation; I do something
wonderful for you and you return the favor and do something important for me. Everyone
benefits. All thrive.

Only… some humans have forgotten that one good deed deserves another. Some humans see the earth as a big box store, where you fill your cart to overflowing, pay little or nothing, and come back for more.

Well, eventually that creates a deficit. The system diminishes and starts to break down. There is less and less on the shelves to give. The big beautiful machina naturae creaks and groans, and finally cracks. Some have too much. Some have nothing left. This is where we find ourselves today. A broken system.

And there are plenty of advanced civilizations that have taken a similar route before us, and have disappeared back into the earth, barely leaving any clues of their existance and downfall, to be noticed only by those awake enough to see.

The peach loves you. The tree loves you. The sun, wind, and rain love you. Mother earth loves you and wishes the best for all her children.

All we need to do is reciprocate! It’s that simple!