"We humans forget that we are Nature. We are the elements."
Thanks for this reflection, Barbara. Seeing it in black and white is soothing.
Visiting family in AZ, we went to Montezuma's Castle and Well. (OMG, the Sycamores!) In the past you could simply wander the grounds, lay down, view the cliff dwellings at your leisure, but now it's cement walkways and arrows, not just where to walk but the direction too.
I felt a keen responsibility to not follow them. Not because I'm looking to be confrontational, genuinely because I know I'm part of Nature, a human on its planet and that relationship is our birthright and beyond precious. (Stay on the cement? No. No, no, no, no, no.)
A well-meaning person would agree the cement and signs are about respecting Nature and that intent is likely in there, but I see it as part of the ongoing message that Nature is separate from us, something to visit, pay money to visit, an attraction.
I really hope to see this new emerging world shakes off that whole nonsense quick. Humans on this planet is a love-story.
And you're a love, Barbara! Thank you for reflecting sanity.
And I'm with you on the dry-cold. It's been nice being in dry-warm in the Southwest. 🌸 😘 🧚♀️
Thank you, dear Kathleen! I couldn't help but think of how they tried to get us to follow arrows down the grocery store aisles in the stupid years. Did people really comply?? :)
I'm glad you're getting a respite from the cold and damp. I was hoping that our super-cold, snowy winter would mean fewer ticks, but nope, evidently it just insulates them. :( Here I go again, whining about the bugs.) I know, they're part of Nature, too.
And, yes, can our new emerging world get on with it and not take another 1,000 years?
I still have some snow piles, but this morning I saw a herd of deer silently running through the forest, and there are Yarrow and Motherwort popping up in the yard. Spring really is here. Please bring some of the dry back with you! XOXO
I see a face!!! I also see a wish bone. Barbara, our feelings towards winter is identical. I can't do the damp. I don't like it in the summer either. The dry weather is for me. I'm glad the funk is lifting. I love you so much. PINK IS EVERYTHING 🩷
Jamie, here you are, always such a dear friend and cheerleader for me and TQP! And...Pink Is Everything. Just write the damn book, Barbara.
I love you so much, my fellow lover of (early) winter. It is damp and cold now, and I'm going to light a fire in the woodstove. Stay warm and dry in the Mitten! 🔥 🩷
Glad that you're staying with the stuckness. Why do you feel you need to write more? I've been enjoying releasing myself from that. But I'm also glad to get these missives from the woods.
Hi Tereza, it's not so much that I feel the need to write more here on TQP; it's just a lifelong frustration I have with not doing better at keeping a journal (same with my art and not filling all the sketchbooks I buy). So many insights and messages go unrecorded. I have let go of some of that frustration (obviously not all!), but the synchronicity of the Thoreau doc showing up like that made me laugh.
I know they say the Bull represents Taurus (my moon and rising), but for me, the slowness of Turtle is more representative. Ahh, all of life's lessons...
Yes, I get that. It's a constant tension for me too. I've been practicing time-wasting as a discipline to convince myself there's no urgency. If a thought needs to be expressed, it will come back. And maybe the thought that isn't expressed still goes somewhere. I've got nothing figured out. These are just my musings in the same struggle as you.
Since my 69th birthday (welcome, cronage!) is later this month, Taurus is my sun sign (is that right?) But I think it's really Ba'at the cow goddess with one horn facing the mystical world and one facing the material world. I think we talked about this because she shows up in Celtic myths too as the white cow who creates the Milky Way and the river of wisdom with the speckled salmon. So maybe we're misunderstanding Taurus as a bull, symbol of testosterone-driven rage.
Perfect musings... :) Stubbornness and rigidity are shadow aspects of Taurus (bullish traits), but, of course, that's just one aspect of the story. Oh, my. So much to ruminate on, right??
And maybe time-being rather than wasting?? If that makes sense! Ah, we humans and our thinking brains... You have a birthday coming up! XOXO
The first thing I thought when I saw that sleeping rock was that it looks like the stony face of a wise tortoise, frozen in time, yet alive and all-knowing.
Yes, a turtle sleeping rock. Also, the last photo looks to me like a woman sitting with her knees bent, next to a large Trilobite to her right. And thanks for The Water Song, it's powerful❣️
Devon...I had to look up "Trilobite." Thanks for sharing what you saw. I was absolutely mesmerized looking at that spot in the stream. When I go back, I'm going to take a closer look.
Enjoy The Water Song, and thank you for reading/listening! XO
Count me in for any upcoming video tours of those lovely Taurean surrounds!
Video? Did I really say that??? 😬 Thanks for reading, Isaac!
"We humans forget that we are Nature. We are the elements."
Thanks for this reflection, Barbara. Seeing it in black and white is soothing.
Visiting family in AZ, we went to Montezuma's Castle and Well. (OMG, the Sycamores!) In the past you could simply wander the grounds, lay down, view the cliff dwellings at your leisure, but now it's cement walkways and arrows, not just where to walk but the direction too.
I felt a keen responsibility to not follow them. Not because I'm looking to be confrontational, genuinely because I know I'm part of Nature, a human on its planet and that relationship is our birthright and beyond precious. (Stay on the cement? No. No, no, no, no, no.)
A well-meaning person would agree the cement and signs are about respecting Nature and that intent is likely in there, but I see it as part of the ongoing message that Nature is separate from us, something to visit, pay money to visit, an attraction.
I really hope to see this new emerging world shakes off that whole nonsense quick. Humans on this planet is a love-story.
And you're a love, Barbara! Thank you for reflecting sanity.
And I'm with you on the dry-cold. It's been nice being in dry-warm in the Southwest. 🌸 😘 🧚♀️
Thank you, dear Kathleen! I couldn't help but think of how they tried to get us to follow arrows down the grocery store aisles in the stupid years. Did people really comply?? :)
I'm glad you're getting a respite from the cold and damp. I was hoping that our super-cold, snowy winter would mean fewer ticks, but nope, evidently it just insulates them. :( Here I go again, whining about the bugs.) I know, they're part of Nature, too.
And, yes, can our new emerging world get on with it and not take another 1,000 years?
I still have some snow piles, but this morning I saw a herd of deer silently running through the forest, and there are Yarrow and Motherwort popping up in the yard. Spring really is here. Please bring some of the dry back with you! XOXO
I see a face!!! I also see a wish bone. Barbara, our feelings towards winter is identical. I can't do the damp. I don't like it in the summer either. The dry weather is for me. I'm glad the funk is lifting. I love you so much. PINK IS EVERYTHING 🩷
Jamie, here you are, always such a dear friend and cheerleader for me and TQP! And...Pink Is Everything. Just write the damn book, Barbara.
I love you so much, my fellow lover of (early) winter. It is damp and cold now, and I'm going to light a fire in the woodstove. Stay warm and dry in the Mitten! 🔥 🩷
🩷
Glad that you're staying with the stuckness. Why do you feel you need to write more? I've been enjoying releasing myself from that. But I'm also glad to get these missives from the woods.
Hi Tereza, it's not so much that I feel the need to write more here on TQP; it's just a lifelong frustration I have with not doing better at keeping a journal (same with my art and not filling all the sketchbooks I buy). So many insights and messages go unrecorded. I have let go of some of that frustration (obviously not all!), but the synchronicity of the Thoreau doc showing up like that made me laugh.
I know they say the Bull represents Taurus (my moon and rising), but for me, the slowness of Turtle is more representative. Ahh, all of life's lessons...
Thanks for reading! XOXO 🐢
Yes, I get that. It's a constant tension for me too. I've been practicing time-wasting as a discipline to convince myself there's no urgency. If a thought needs to be expressed, it will come back. And maybe the thought that isn't expressed still goes somewhere. I've got nothing figured out. These are just my musings in the same struggle as you.
Since my 69th birthday (welcome, cronage!) is later this month, Taurus is my sun sign (is that right?) But I think it's really Ba'at the cow goddess with one horn facing the mystical world and one facing the material world. I think we talked about this because she shows up in Celtic myths too as the white cow who creates the Milky Way and the river of wisdom with the speckled salmon. So maybe we're misunderstanding Taurus as a bull, symbol of testosterone-driven rage.
Perfect musings... :) Stubbornness and rigidity are shadow aspects of Taurus (bullish traits), but, of course, that's just one aspect of the story. Oh, my. So much to ruminate on, right??
And maybe time-being rather than wasting?? If that makes sense! Ah, we humans and our thinking brains... You have a birthday coming up! XOXO
Oooooh time being! Love that!
The first thing I thought when I saw that sleeping rock was that it looks like the stony face of a wise tortoise, frozen in time, yet alive and all-knowing.
Yes, a turtle sleeping rock. Also, the last photo looks to me like a woman sitting with her knees bent, next to a large Trilobite to her right. And thanks for The Water Song, it's powerful❣️
Devon...I had to look up "Trilobite." Thanks for sharing what you saw. I was absolutely mesmerized looking at that spot in the stream. When I go back, I'm going to take a closer look.
Enjoy The Water Song, and thank you for reading/listening! XO
YES! He reminds me of my Stone friend, Sleeping Turtle Rock. https://barbarasinclair.substack.com/p/stone-wisdom?utm_source=publication-search
Thanks for reading, Roman! 💦🐢