“. . . We think by feeling. What is there to know?

I hear my being dance from ear to ear.

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?

God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,

And learn by going where I have to go. . .”

~ Theodore Roethke, Excerpt from ” The Waking”

Some waking involves shaking off or reflecting on strange bad dreams, as I woke from this morning. These from last night, haunt my feelings all day; but my friend and I go out into the misty morning early. It’s pleasantly warm, we walk without jackets in sleeveless tops in the pleasantness. And the birds are everywhere in flight and feeding and stillness. And the endless conversation we entered on her arrival continues. After we walk we do yoga, then meditate. We are making our time together a spontaneous retreat. We spend the afternoon talking about writing, framing chapters and the arc of her book. Finally, a rest on the beach in the late afternoon. I sink face down into the sand and fall into a dreamless, restful sleep; this has been a most stimulating week. I wake refreshed, surrounded by sandpipers and terns wading in surf.