“The knowledge of the heart is in no book

and is not to be found in the mouth of any teacher,

but grows out of you like the green seed from the dark earth.”

~ C.G. Jung

Yes, I needed a day off and found this one, hot, humid, lush, easy and sweet. They don’t mind the heat in the woods, the dogs, and neither do I. All the green beside me, above me, around me. I am thoughtful, trying to understand something. How I might change a feeling I have. First, to get to the root of it. At the brook, as usual, I stop and the dogs drink, and I look into the reflection of sky and trees. Today, I see the surface: the question I am asking. And this is my way of walking with the question. There is no authority to consult as I look for my answer. The authority is me. To go below the surface, to let the unconscious play its part. Asking, stating the question, the problem, letting the mystery be framed. Then, I am listening. I am listening and looking for insights. This may take awhile. Meanwhile, there is watering to do, there are weeds to pull, on my knees with the sun on my back. For a little while, at least. In the meadow I carry the pails of water and appreciate the moths, butterflies, dragonflies – all this activity of flight and color and pattern, because they survive on what grows in this meadow grass. My flowers are dry, but healthy, and drink. There are disappointments today; there is change. There is quiet and joy also. Always, surprise. In my bedroom my son lifts a book from a stack on my table. The Art of Intuition. “Who’s is this?” he asks. I say I found it in the house, on somebody’s shelf and placed it on my stack to read. “You can read it,” I say. But he says, no, not right now. He’s reading a novel. Later we go swimming at Farm Pond, Frank, my son and myself and of course the hot dogs who swim and chase balls as we melt and dip, melt and dip. There is a lovely peace in this time. We visit with my friend who joins us and laugh and talk politics and it’s easy, because we agree. Later, after we return home, my son says, I’m going to read that book now after all, if that’s okay. Yes. There is something I don’t understand and I’m asking my heart a question. Meanwhile, the people close to me, are asking their own questions too; and my son, I think he is looking in the places I know to trust too.