When Nature speaks...

When we were in the car with our grandchildren last weekend, driving along getting closer to the mountains, our 2 year old grandson said quietly behind me, "I love the mountains! They say,'hi, Milo' to me." It reminded me of his father when he was about the same age, telling us the 'mushcrashes' (muskrats) were singing to him as they swam by in a mountain lake.

What sweet simple declarations of a love for and relationship with Nature. I hope the mountains will always 'say hi' to Milo. They have always said hi to me, too. And especially when I've been away from them awhile and then return, they loudly proclaim, 'welcome home!' when I first see them on the horizon.

Trees also speak to me, telling me that all is really alright with the world... not just any tree, but several very specific trees. There is a tree as we turn into the canyon to climb up the Mesa, and there is the stand of aspens at our cabin. As long as they are doing what aspens and cottonwoods should be doing - whispering softly in the summer breeze, glowing golden in the autumn, or pointing their bare fingers up into the bright blue winter heavens - I know all will be well, and all will be very well.

How lovely it is when we allow ourselves to hear the voice of nature! For some, I know it is the sea that says 'hi' and 'welcome home' to them.

This morning, in my post-election bliss, I did the above small 20-minute oil sketch of rocks in water. It feels good to not have the weight of the election on us. Free to do what I should be doing, even if I am out of practice and the result is less than spectacular (to say the least.)

Here is a short video I had my husband take (as his camera has sound) when we were in Washington last fall. Turn the volume up and listen to the lovely, powerful voice of God!

"One of the most important - and the most neglected - elements in the beginnings of the interior life is the ability to respond to reality, to see the value and the beauty in ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is all around us in the creatures of God." Thomas Merton