Clouds

The sky is sunny blue except for the horizon. Two bambis are playing tag amongst the corn, a grackle and a red-wing proclaim their territories from adjacent trees, baby dove practices flying with mama, and a downy woodpecker, a goldfinch, and two sparrows take turns on the snag.

Life is good.

Be still and know

I've been thinking and reading a lot about Place as a concept recently. Sacred places, connections to the land, putting down roots - all the ways we talk about the indescribable connection between ourselves and particular places on earth. I don't understand it, but I feel it resonate with me on a primal, subconscious level.

There are many places identified as sacred in our world. Denali, the Great One, is awesome, in the root meaning of the word, when you stand in its presence. From the air, it is breathtakingly, heartrendingly beautiful. Cruel, cold, challenging, and yet an integral part of Mother Earth, the warm and loving cradle of us all.

And what's more

The egrets have flown, but I'm still overwhelmed with sights and sounds. The frogs, reclaiming the creek, are even louder. The robins, blackbirds, grackles, and golfers are in full voice as well (pay no attention to that man on the cart ...), and the mourning doves are cooing softly in the background, barely audible above all the clamor of the great outdoors.

In the past hour, in addition to the egrets, I've seen a killdeer, a vulture, a hawk (accipiter sp.), grackles, robins, a pair of finches building a nest, two chickadees, mallards in groups of two and three, mourning doves, countless male blackbirds, the swimming groundhog, and two goldfinches playing arial tag.

Update: The bluebird of happiness came by later and perched on the snag, followed shortly by the old grey (Canada) goose.