Painting the Pond With Words

During our Painting With Words writing retreat we spent some time in the lush environment, being fully present and mindful of details.  I believe that details bring writing to life, so we spent time honing our observational skills.  I did my mindfulness exercise from a hammock looking straight up to the sky.  (There is little I like more than a hammock between two tall trees!) When the time had passed, I called everyone together with my new crow call.  So much fun!

I was reminded of doing a similar exercise a few summers back, while sitting outside of the sanctuary at The Omega Institute, one of my favorite places.  I had a powerful experience with a frog one year (that is a story for another day) and I went back years later, wondering if he was still there... 

The plants have grown big in my absence! A half-decade has past. 

The algae are thick, and emerald, and artful.

Daddy Long Legs feels his way, ballet like, down the pine green fern. Watching closely makes me wonder if he has eyes.

There are fish, white and golden and graceful. 

No sign yet of my frog friends… 

This year’s yoga woman does a sun pose.  She too looks like a dancer. 

Bird songs layer in a morning symphony. 

Eight fifteen sounds like animal chaos in the undergrowth.  It is the fountain sputtering to life. 

Minutes later there is a gurgling, a hinting, and then the sound I came for – the gentle waterfall over the rock ledge.

Come on frogs!  If you are still here, show yourselves.

Say hello.

I am an old friend of your ancestors. 


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