#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
Owl in Charles River Ice
White Owl Flies Into and Out of the Field
Coming down out of the freezing sky
with its depths of light,
like an angel, or a Buddha with wings,
it was beautiful, and accurate,
striking the snow and whatever was there
with a force that left the imprint
of the tips of its wings —~ Excerpt, by Mary Oliver
I overslept, woke overtired, groggy. I had hoped to walk in the woods with my friend but it was so cold and I moved so slowly into the morning, took my time. I wrote my Aim for Astonishing Weekly prompt before I walked. Then my daughter came in and asked, just before I hit send, if I wanted to meditate with her for 25 minutes. This was a good idea, so I set the timer, made my singing bowl sing, and we began. And as I breathed and stilled myself and focused I had a happy flash of memory, the first time, sitting in the darkened sanctuary of the Vipassana retreat she and went on together nearly a decade ago, on a cold January retreat. After our sit, I hit send, and went out. As I walked in the frigid morning toward the river I had the happy thought: there will be new ice. Then, I bent down at the edge of the river to read the ice. And I spotted the owl with its eyes wide open looking at me, as Mary Oliver writes, like an angel or a Buddha with wings. And this, too, reminds me of the Vipassana retreat that January, my twice daily silent walks in fresh snow, looking at images drawn by one of the others, breaking the rules by entertaining herself with her stick in the snow. And I kept walking, trying to warm my ungloved hand, the one I need to snap the picture, and I saw the faceless, sitter, neck wrapped in a baby blue scarf, the heart centered, mindful sitter in the frost-glittered blue universe, seated on airy pillows of a lightness of body, mind, spirit. I saw my daughter, and myself. And then I was so happy, so accepting, so grateful and at peace with the gorgeous gift of this cold cold morning and my discipline of walking out into it, knowing I will discover just exactly what I need to see.
Meditation, Morning Brook