Squirrel "Small Stone"...

This was the first “small stone” that I wrote for the practice of
writing “small stones” for the month of January.
So I thought it only appropriate that I end
the month and the practice
with this one.

The snow receding,
exposing a browning landscape.
A squirrel digging in the bare
spots of grass,
trying to find his buried treasures;
hopping over the frosted snow patches,
up the fence post
and down the fence line,
traveling on to other back yards
on his search -
in his daily play…

~

Have a squirrely day
and collect a pocket full
of “small stones.”! :)

Heart Stones...

Some of you may remember that I am doing a month of
“small stones.”
It’s a practice in awareness, noticing life,
both inner and outer,
as it happens…
Click here to read more about it.

~~

The homey smell of
a cooked meal
that lingers
in the house,
smelled again
upon entering…

Memories of the smell of
my grandmother’s home…

The smell of love and warmth…

Warm fuzzies…

Snowing like soft white rain
melting as it hits the ground,
leaving shiny black pavement
and the swish sound of wetness
from the tires..

Lovely lyrical violin music
on the car radio

The Heart’s delights…

Loving the sounds of the house
the sounds of a day…

The washing machine
the dryer
the furnace
the creaking

A plane overhead
A dog barking

The sound of peace
The sound of silence
behind the noise

Contentment…

Experiencing the gap
of twilight

a transition…

an opening of the heart…

an awareness
of life
so complete
my heart quakes
like the leaves
with its sweetness…

Twilight Owls...

I wish I had a better picture for you, to show my two very enchanting experiences this week with two different owls in our neighborhood, but you’ll just have to trust me. All I have to show for it is this silhouetted picture of a small owl. That would be the little dark blob in the photo of the tree. :) The other one was a huge Great Horned Owl perched in our next door neighbor’s tree, very close to our house. There is such a sacred feeling to be able to view wildlife in a residential neighborhood like this (besides rabbits, squirrels and hawks). And if I hadn’t been out on my walk I would not have seen the smaller owl. In fact I nearly missed it…

As I walked down the sidewalk my husband approached from the opposite direction in the car, as he was coming back from errands. He stopped, we briefly spoke, and I continued on my walk. However, I realized I had the garage door opener, and turned around and headed back. I waved to him to show that I had it, and he started walking towards me. Suddenly he started running towards me, which I found strange. I thought maybe we were going to have one of those magical romantic moments in slow motion that you only see in the movies. And I waited – but no – my mistake…

As he reached me and I handed off the opener he said to me – “Have I got a surprise for you” – peaking my intrigue – a surprise?! And he couldn’t wait until I got home?! After all we had just talked. But he just had to run to tell me now?! With a look of innocent wonder on his face, he pointed up at a tree across the street and said - “There’s your owl” – as if presenting me with a gift. He was - the gift of awareness, the gift of seeing what I had previously missed, and the gift of childlike amazement seen in his eyes. Priceless. He meant it was the owl we thought we had been looking for since hearing it last Summer.

I am hard of hearing and hadn’t heard the soft, gentle hoo-ing when I passed by this owl just a moment before. We both stood in amazement, and of course I whipped out the camera, and managed to get a few shots before it spotted us and suddenly flew off – which I almost missed because I had the camera in front of my face! We stood together for a moment marveling. My husband turned and walked back to the house, and I turned and continued on my twilight walk – in joyful wonderment at such a “romantic” moment -with the owl that is. As I walked, I marveled at the Mystery of Life living ItSelf all around me, in sunsets, and moon risings, on the ground, in the trees, and the winged ones that perch in them…

After I got back from my twilight walk the next evening, where you can be sure I was searching the trees for another view, my husband heard an owl hoo-ing close by. So we went out to look for it and followed the sound. We knew it was very close. It was dusk, but light enough to see the image against the liminally-lit sky. And with binoculars I could tell it was a Great Horned Owl, with its characteristic ear tufts, and a white neck ruffle – like a wise old judge from the Forest. It hooed a few more times from his perch high up in a cottonwood, seemingly unaware of our presence, and then quietly flew off with its elegant and swooping wide wing span. I do believe it was the Great Horned Owl that we heard last Summer and Fall. And maybe the smaller owl we saw the other night was the female version, as this is the beginning of their mating season. Ah ha! Romance *is* in the air! I am falling in love with Nature!

I am strangely comforted knowing that this incredible world of nature is just outside my door, teeming with Life. I am enamored with the idea that I may be living in Winnie the Pooh’s Hundred Acre Wood and haven’t even realized it – till now. So much goes on in nature all the time that we’re never really aware of, unless we put ourselves in a position and frame of mind to really *see* it… And to think that I don’t have to go off into the wilderness somewhere and wait for hours to spot it! I can’t imagine that I’ve missed all this beauty all these years by not paying attention and not being out at this time of day – the liminal time, where the subtleties of Life reveal themselves.

Last October we recorded and posted the mysterious sound of the owl that had been visiting so often at night. I thought I’d post it again here. Enjoy the lullaby :)

“small stone”

Small hoo-ing, coo-ing owl
sitting in gnarly branches
silhouetted in dusky light…

Swoops off to other perches,
other haunts,
leaving the echo of
her mysterious hooes
behind…

Awakens imagination…

A Gathering of "Small Stones"...

From what I can gather :) the practice of writing “Small Stones” is a way of being mindful, aware, noticing, seeing the world, our environment, both inner and outer, with new eyes. It is about noticing and writing down these little stones of awareness on a daily basis for the month of January. I was first introduced to “Small Stones” by Hilaire over at Storing Magic. To find out how it all began on the original site Click here. And here are a few “stones” I have gathered in my “noticing” this month with some photos that seemed to fit… Enjoy!