Nature Awareness: Change and Potential

The forest is full of exciting energy right now.  It’s similar to the energy I feel in the autumn; it’s change and potential.

The ice gives way to the warm sunbeams penetrating the forest canopy. Copious deer droppings around these icy terreriums reveal that they are serving as watering holes until they evaporate. Even after her season, An Cailleach finds a way to provide for her herds…

Last year’s detritus, natural and human made, has spent the winter soaking up snow and ice.  The warmth finds it disintegrating.  Although I will be taking a bag with me on my next hike, as cleaning litter can be one of the best offerings to Nature Spirits and the Earth Mother, I find some of it beautiful at this time of year.  Some clothing has been ripped up, no doubt incorporated into hibernation nests.  Some, like the notebook above, have become poignant landmarks.  What was written there?  If the owner returned, what would he or she think of the message the forest left on the pages?  Whatever it says, it is fleeting…

…for soon, new growth, like this trout lily, will take over. When I see these mottled leaves, which will soon sprout delightful yellow flowers, I know that spring is here to stay. It is wisdom handed down to me from my parents, and the potential to share that with Bee excites me. Here and there, grasses are growing between the rotting leaves. Moss puffs up with pride.  Majestic ferns fan out, adding their bright green to an otherwise brown forest floor. Soon they will expand, and other green Nature Spirits will join them, making it difficult for me to walk in the forest.

The forest is changing, putting on its green cloak.  An Cailleach goes to sleep and the virile forest spirits reclaim their place.  There is adventure to be had in the woods, and my heart skips a beat thinking of a new season to explore and learn from the wild teachers.