Topic: Nature's Breath

[Jennifer-]

A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring
storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious
enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees
are now silent, their songs never cease. Every hidden cell is
throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings,
while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves. No
wonder the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more
they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the
farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself.
-   John Muir

 

[Jennifer-]

By the grey woods, by the swamp, where the toad and newt encamp,
by the dismal tarns and pools, where dwell the Gouls.   By each spot
the most unholy, by each nook most melancholy, there the traveller
meets, aghast, sheeted memories of the Past.   Shrouded forms that
start and sigh, as they pass the wanderer by. White-robed forms of
friends long given; In agony, to the Earth - and Heaven.

-   Edgar Allen Poe, Dreamland

[Jennifer-]

My heart is tuned to the quietness
that the stillness of nature inspires.


Hazrat Inayat Khan



                   …a leaf fluttered in through the window this morning,
            as if supported by the rays of the sun,
            a bird settled on the fire escape,
            joy in the task of coffee,
            joy accompanied me as I walked…

Anaïs Nin

[Jennifer-]

            Wilderness can be appreciated only by contrast,
            And solitude understood only when we have been without it.
            We cannot separate ourselves from
            society, comradeship, sharing and love.
            Unless we can contribute something from wilderness experience,
            derive some solace or peace to share with others,
            Then the real purpose is defeated.

Sigurd Olson



The charm of a woodland road lies not only it its beauty but in anticipation.
Around each bend may be a discovery, an adventure.

Dale Rex Coman

[Jennifer-]

Buddha:

    If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.


Henry David Thoreau:

    We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.

Thich Nhat Hanh:

    May our heart's garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.