The seasons are beginning to shift once again. The soft, maidenly blush of early Spring has matured to the riotous colors and fragrances and sounds of late April. Skies which were once frosty blue--much like glacial ice--have warmed to a deep cornflower. These are studded with cotton-like tufts of clouds which kiss the ground with playful, irregular shadows and the cleanly-cool breezes tease them across the warm, blue sky. It's the PERFECT "cloud animal" weather.
Trees and grasses native to the area (the campus at which I teach tries its best to landscape using native plants when possible) are in full flower and leaf now! Fields which have laid bare for months have exploded in a riot of wildflowers--deep blue Bluebonnets edged in lacy white, coral- and lemon-tinged Indian Paintbrush, delicate wild mustard, cheerful heliotrope thistles, sunny coreopsis, and regal irises (thanks to squirrels who've a penchant for gardening). Ash, oak, and bottlebrush trees now provide a pleasant dappled shade in the wide expanses of soft grass.
And then there are the creatures--plump ruddy squirrels busily digging for winter acorns forgotten or lost under the newly-grown lawns; nervous rabbits tentatively munching on the new flowers and bedding plants; a merry mockingbird overseeing the entire scene from a rooftop, singing out a pastorale of the activity below. Plump carpenter bees and lithe honeybees battle for rights to the numerous blooms and the promise of pollen and nectar within. And, lasy butterflies in stained-glass hues of azure, scarlet, gold, and emerald float on the breezes from flower to flower.
Beltane, the celebration of life and living, is nearly upon us. She has decked Herself in Her most alluring raiment through the trees and flowers and crystaline skies to beckon us to celebrate. In the days and weeks surrounding this festival of union and connection, open to the life around you! Embrace the sensual...the pleasurable...the enticing. Go outside and simply "be" in nature--sit in the sun's warming rays, rest yourself against a solid tree's trunk, chatter back to the inquisitive squirrels, engage a bee in conversation (they're quite intelligent and anxious to share if you don't shy from them). LIVE!
And, remember She who has come into Her womanhood full of live and joy and beauty.
In the sensual softness of the Moonlight...
Trees and grasses native to the area (the campus at which I teach tries its best to landscape using native plants when possible) are in full flower and leaf now! Fields which have laid bare for months have exploded in a riot of wildflowers--deep blue Bluebonnets edged in lacy white, coral- and lemon-tinged Indian Paintbrush, delicate wild mustard, cheerful heliotrope thistles, sunny coreopsis, and regal irises (thanks to squirrels who've a penchant for gardening). Ash, oak, and bottlebrush trees now provide a pleasant dappled shade in the wide expanses of soft grass.
And then there are the creatures--plump ruddy squirrels busily digging for winter acorns forgotten or lost under the newly-grown lawns; nervous rabbits tentatively munching on the new flowers and bedding plants; a merry mockingbird overseeing the entire scene from a rooftop, singing out a pastorale of the activity below. Plump carpenter bees and lithe honeybees battle for rights to the numerous blooms and the promise of pollen and nectar within. And, lasy butterflies in stained-glass hues of azure, scarlet, gold, and emerald float on the breezes from flower to flower.
Beltane, the celebration of life and living, is nearly upon us. She has decked Herself in Her most alluring raiment through the trees and flowers and crystaline skies to beckon us to celebrate. In the days and weeks surrounding this festival of union and connection, open to the life around you! Embrace the sensual...the pleasurable...the enticing. Go outside and simply "be" in nature--sit in the sun's warming rays, rest yourself against a solid tree's trunk, chatter back to the inquisitive squirrels, engage a bee in conversation (they're quite intelligent and anxious to share if you don't shy from them). LIVE!
And, remember She who has come into Her womanhood full of live and joy and beauty.
In the sensual softness of the Moonlight...
