Sleeping in the Forest by Mary Oliver
I thought the earth remembered me,
She took me back so tenderly
Arranging her skirts
Her pockets full of lichens and seeds.
I slept as never before
A stone on the riverbed,
Nothing between me and the white fire of the stars,
But my thoughts.
And they floated light as moths
Among the branches of the perfect trees.
All night I heard the small kingdoms
Breathing around me.
The insects and the birds
Who do their work in darkness.
All night I rose and fell,
As if water, grappling with luminous doom.
By morning I had vanished at least a dozen times
Into something better.
We as a group of artist mothers from all over the world are making it our priority to turn off the tv/video games so that we can give our children the sacred experience to connect with the fast disappearing natural world. We will freelens our adventures into the wild and share them through this monthly project. The goal of this collaborative is to journey into something better.
“The Best Playground Ever”
Fall is my favorite time of the year. Or at least it has historically been my favorite. I remember being in high school and loving the smell and the chill in the air that came with Fall. I didn’t like football yet I enjoyed going to games just so I could be out after dark when the smell and the chill seemed even stronger. Having kids has changed this love a bit. Mostly there are new stressors tied to Fall. This has been especially true this year. With the numerous Fall birthdays to celebrate and the battle to get the right Halloween costumes ready in time (and by ready I mean chosen and bought!!!) plus my workshop commitments, I have found myself cooped up inside The Creek House every weekend while Daddy takes everyone else hiking and exploring. But not this past weekend. I made myself available. I disconnected from my computer and I connected with those I love more than anything on a hike to a place you call, “The Best Playground Ever.”
