Sunday Afternoon

Yesterday afternoon, we went down to Raft Bayou. Marty and Robin had spent the night, but they were the only ones there, so it was quiet and peaceful. Such a beautiful day with a nice breeze to keep things fresh and interesting. The breeze moved, cool and pleasant against the skin, the leaves on the trees turned in that slow dance. A huge hawk circled the just disked field, time seemed less important. (These pictures are not from yesterday as I forgot my camera.)

While blog visiting this morning, I came across The Beauty That Moves (via Letters from a Hill Farm) and some lovely photography and then this wonderful poem by Mary Oliver--

When I Am Among the Trees

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks, and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

Mary Oliver

The poem seems to highlight the ideas I've been reading in various books like The Intention Experiment, The Mindful Woman and A New Earth and the research I've been doing into meditation.I love the second verse of the poem that echoes so much of what we all feel in our hurried lives. Most of us do want to "go easy, to be filled with light" -- but it is sometimes difficult shed all the daily concerns that weigh on us, or even to recognize them, as they become such a part of our lives. Sometimes we need to be reminded about "go[ing] easy."