Sunday 14 October 2012

A Personal Reflection


$1749.20 per ounce – The Price of Gold and My Priceless Golden Girl

7:30 AM, October 14, Abiquiu, New Mexico

The sun is streaming through the cottonwood trees and it is as if this brilliant sunlight is making them shine like gold.  I look out my three office windows into a veritable forest of gold, spectacular against a clear, deep blue New Mexico sky.  I consider how fortunate and blessed we are to be in this place at this time, this time of this year, this month, this early morning time of day, another beginning.
The love of my life sits down the hall, pure gold in her own unique way, precious, rare and extremely valuable.  She is worth more than anything material that comes from the earth whether diamonds, rubies, emeralds, silver or gold or any other “thing” which we might dare think we could own.
So, we shall make the best of whatever time we have, a brave and new adventure and make this gift of time the most it can be. I thought of these verses from Robert Browning and offer it up for consideration.

"Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith "A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!''

And I shall thereupon
Take rest, ere I be gone
Once more on my adventure brave and new:
Fearless and unperplexed,
When I wage battle next,
What weapons to select, what armour to indue.

Youth ended, I shall try
My gain or loss thereby;
Leave the fire ashes, what survives is gold:
And I shall weigh the same,
Give life its praise or blame:
Young, all lay in dispute; I shall know, being old."



Friday 12 October 2012

LEARNING from ASINTMAH (earth/nature goddess, Native American)

Fall Colors!
Photosynthesis is as natural to plants as eating is to humans.  In fact, there are some similarities with several significant exceptions.  One is that plants seldom overeat.  They take what they need, water from the ground through their roots, CO2 from the air and sunlight to turn water and CO2 into oxygen and glucose.  The way they do this is called photosynthesis which means literally “putting together with light.”   
Chlorophyll helps make it all happen and is what gives deciduous tree leaves their green color in the summer.  During winter, there is not enough light or water and the trees will rest and live off the food they stored during the summer.  As they begin the transition, as one who lives where I see this magnificent color change into yellow and orange, I am amazed and delighted every year, this year just as much as ever.
Plants and trees are very smart.  As plants grow, they shed older leaves and grow new ones. This is important because the leaves become damaged over time by insects, disease and weather. The shedding and replacement continues all the time.  We do the same, we let go of the old and grow something new for that which we leave behind.
Right now the leaves on our hundreds of cottonwoods are brilliant orange. The brightest colors are seen when late summer is dry, and these Fall days are bright, sunny, and cool (low 40's Fahrenheit) nights. Then trees make a lot of anthocyanin pigments.  The coming frost and freeze will hasten this process, the daylight diminishes, the leaves will turn brown, fall off the trees and most of the plant activity we will not see for it is going on underground.

Lessons from nature abound.  The rhythm and dance continue in their annual display in a riot of color.  Here are some lessons to consider.

1      Eat what you need to sustain your vitality.
2      Save resources for leaner times.
3      Add some color to your life.
4      Figure out what you don’t need and let it go.
5      Prepare well for the next season.
6      Wait and don’t try to rush the process.  Let it work.
7      Embrace and celebrate inevitable change.
8   Know that what is not seen is often more important than what is seen.
9   Stay warm, dry and safe.