 Yet again, I am moving too quickly. My mind occupied by the list of things that need to be accomplished today, I am walking briskly and almost miss the tiny wildflowers along the path.
Now I pause to explore their delicate white petals, and I’m taken in by the amazing array of new spring greens the trees are wearing. A spirited chorus of call and response is offered by Carolina wrens, cardinals, and robins. In the distance, pileated woodpeckers drum their search for insects. I’ve come so close to missing this display of beauty, once again failing to connect with the world around me. Following my own default drumbeat of getting stuff done, I am out of sync with the rhythm of the natural world.
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 We walk slowly along the trail, our heads bent, eyes focused on the ground beside us. My husband and I have returned to Yankauer Nature Preserve in West Virginia to search for spring ephemerals, those exquisitely tiny and fleeting blossoms that signify spring’s awakening. We call out to each other as we spot the first Star Chickweed: 10 petals in perfect symmetry around a soft lemon center. No, not 10; 5 petals, deeply clefted to deceive the quick eye. We linger, draw closer. The slender stamens and anthers tipped with tiny dark dots stand as an occasional freckle against the white petals.
 I watch my husband drawing closer to the cliff edge as the opaque fury of pounding waves disrupts turquoise pools of trapped water. Jagged basalt runs from the cliffside to the icy ocean 30 feet below. Tiny daisies rim the green bank to the point it drops sharply away. Rugged land, restless sea and endless sky meet here to form a vista of beauty-upon-beauty on this wild Hebridean island.
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AUTHORLeah Rampy is a spiritual teacher and author seeking to reweave the connections of soul and Earth. CATEGORIESARCHIVES
August 2024
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