Cloud Goddess

Welcome Distraction – Day 773

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Sky Goddess – Photo: L. Weikel

Welcome Distraction

At least three times today I was compelled to pull off to the side of the road to take a photo of the sky. And there were probably twice as many times I wanted to pull over but couldn’t. I don’t know if it was the sunshine or the mild temperatures that called to me today, but I’ll admit just driving around and looking at the clouds was a welcome distraction.

It was hard to believe some of the forms and figures I saw splashed across the sky today weren’t literally painted by some invisible hand. Beyond the figures included in this post, there were a couple that looked eerily as if someone was trying to write a name or a message in the sky. Letters hung precariously in the middle of blank blue sky like broken pieces of a wooden sign, swinging from hooks. And those letters appeared to be gilded and illuminated from within as the sun, peering at them from behind other clouds, caressed them just so.

The letters were so unlikely, too. Small and distinct, employing odd angles and textures. And they seemed to appear within kissing distance of some grand, sweeping expanses – yet remained chaste, standoffish, and utterly isolated.

Cloud Goddess – Photo: L. Weikel

Tremendous Range

The few images I managed to capture almost couldn’t have been more different. The first, which is at the top of this post, reminds me of a Sea or Wind Goddess either offering a gift to the sun or making an offering of the sun to the face discernible above and to the left of the sun. Either way, the bearer of the gift is the epitome of a beautiful creature celebrating the freedom of the sky.

On the other hand, the photo below could indeed indicate that the invasion of our Insect Overlords has commenced. Resistance is futile.

Insect Overlord? – Photo: L. Weikel

I have to say, while the gigantic praying mantis does appear to be eyeing us up, I’d like to think its intentions are benign at worst and benevolent at best. While I detect just a hint of glee in its expression, I don’t think it’s in anticipation of a meal.

At least I hope not.

(T-338)

Unsubtle Message – Day 650

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: L. Weikel

Unsubtle Message

Sometimes Spirit, or our Higher Selves, or whatever or whomever it is that may try to give us a message or impart a little guidance now and again does so gently. You know, perhaps sweetly arranging for a feather to drop in our lap or a book title to catch our attention. Other times, however, perhaps when we’re being particularly obtuse, the only route to take to get our full attention may be to give us a clear, unsubtle message.

That’s apparently the route Spirit (or perhaps my body) is giving me.

Every morning for weeks and weeks, I literally stretch my arms and legs from end to end as I slowly awaken. And every morning as I do that simple movement to awaken my body I think, “I really need to start doing yoga again.”

I know it; I feel it; my body both craves and cringes at the thought of it. Indeed, that’s always been my body’s reaction to yoga. She screams at my boorish attempts to engage in sun salutations, yet at the same time nearly weeps with joy. I honestly felt that exact same internal conflict when I took my very first yoga class over 35 years ago.

Pandemic Pose

I must admit, though. This is probably the longest I’ve gone without doing yoga in at least 26 years. And trust me – age 61 is not the time to stop doing yoga. Good grief. It’s the time to be embracing it to the fullest. I keep hearing in the back of my mind, “Use it or lose it, Babycakes!”

So I’ve been silently haranguing myself about re-engaging in yoga. Giving myself grief in my journal. Thinking about it. Stretching when I wake up but going no further…

And then tonight: Karl and I are walking along delighting in the young moon gracing the evening sky. I stopped any number of times along the way trying to get the best photo of it that I could.

We rounded the corner and climbed the hill where the woods give way to vast fields and a dramatic view of the sky.

And there it was, a Cloud Goddess – or perhaps more appropriately, a Cloud Yogini – doing Bow Pose right there, unmistakably, in front of us.

A very unsubtle message, Spirit.

Bow Pose – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-461)