Aether

For thousands of years people have worked to construct a model of how things flow through the Universe. Aristotle and the Greeks thought that beyond earth and between planets and stars was an 'aether', a fifth element. When Michelson and Morley conducted experiments to measure the speed of light between mountain tops, they hypothesized light traveled through this same ether. So this week I have been making sense of my fascination with water flowing over rocks. When I looked at my history of photo taking I realized a theme. When I was a kid we lived near Ralph Stover State Park in Bucks County, PA. We spent family picnic time there and I remember rock stepping across the Tohickon Creek. I remember another time at Worlds End State Park . Here is the evolving theme of my fascination with shorelines, water and rocks.

The River Flows

Today I flow with ease and grace. I move as the water flows through the river. Bending and maneuvering through every apparent obstacle while making my way to the destination. More photos of Montana and the Yellowstone River.

Sharing Space

Throughout the winter I've had a chance to look from my upstairs vantage point and watch the woods. More specifically...watch the deer, the birds, the trees and more.
Although this is a suburban town there are a few patches of woods where animals- raccoon, possum, squirrels, chipmunks, foxes and deer live. With the woods bare in the winter the deer were very visible. Now in the full green of spring it's much harder to see them.



One of our autumn activities is to collect (blow and rake) fallen leaves. Over a two or three weekends we do an 80% job of clearing the summer green that is now turned brown. I use a tarp to carry them into the woods. Now this spring the leaves have turned into the perfect sun draped resting ground for the deer. A fallen tree, still with living green sprouts provide really good access for a snack.

Standing on Faith

One of my students studying Emerson's Essays has created a blog. Turtles and Swans
In a recent post called, 'posturing' I was drawn to the photograph of the swans on the log. What intrigued me were the swans to the right of the log. They seem to be standing on something invisible. I am struck by the similarity when comparing these swans to my idea of faith. Where conditions seem to indicate that there is nothing to stand on, the swans have identified their base. It is not observable to anyone from the roadside, but they stand clear in their position. Rooted on the log. Standing in faith.

Swirling

I realize that rivers are in at least two of my key nature places. The Ramapo River is a core low land feature of Ramapo Reservation in Mahwah. The park is magnificent because you can choose the watery low land hike, the ascending on road hike, the ascending through the woods hike with stream or without, or just a walk around the lake.

Being in the woods is often accompanied with the quiet that I enjoy. From the quiet I can hear my heart, my breath and I picture my heart beating, pumping and distributing fresh blood and O2. Being next to the river I listen to the rushing of water that overcomes any sound of cars driving on nearby roads. Only 30 yards wide in this area, the river sometimes seems like a stream. There are numerous places to sit, either on the shore, or slightly above the river. These are my places of nature watching, of meditation.



I like circles and spirals; especially where they exist in motion. The place where the river intersects the shoreline are natural spiral locations. The place where rocks, immovable objects, force the fluid water to go around them are perfect places for spirals. Emerson says about circles, "...the highest emblem in the cipher of the world".

The Dropping of Leaves

I have taken a long hiatus from posting. I teach a course, Emerson's Essays and the Transcendentalists, where we study and interpret the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson. We look at several essays like Nature, Self Reliance, Over-Soul, Circles and others. We begin with 'Nature', from the 2nd Series which was published in 1841. One of the class assignments is 'to be like Emerson' by maintaining a 'beauty log', a journal keptduring the 8 weeks of class. Listening to my students' experiences has revived my interest to write.

Nature is my home, my comfort. The trees deeply rooted in Earth are my reminder of the depth of my connection to the land and the forest. Over the past 3-4 years I've developed my favorite spots to visit at local 'parks of inspiration', my places of solace. That which is a noisy sports field in the afternoon or weekend is a quiet and natural beauty early in the morning.

On many Spring, Summer and Fall mornings I would stop by and rest, witness, and affirm the goodness of the day. Sometimes I would walk across the grass or through the dirt infield of a ball field. Other times I would just rest on a bench and listen. Listen to nature. Far from highways I treasure the silence, trees surrounding the park, the grass field and the colors.

There is a time in fall, when the leaves turn color and there is a time when they release and fall to the ground. One October morning, where I normally experience silence, I was enamored by the sound of leaves falling, of the collision of summer's green beauties now turned bright yellow and dropping. Listen to the forest.