sunset

Vernal Equinox – ND #103

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Magical Sunset at the Vernal Equinox – Photo: L. Weikel

Vernal Equinox

Given that today was the Vernal Equinox, I guess it only stands to reason that it was a quintessentially typical ‘Spring day.’ What I mean is that the energy of the day as reflected in the weather was warm, sunny, blustery, cool, bright, sunny, dark and weighed down by slate gray billowing clouds.

By the time I finally finished the spectacular distance retreat I’d attended all weekend and got dinner started, the dogs were dancing around the kitchen with their legs crossed. They desperately needed a walk. Yes, I’d  let them out at the breaks and played with them sporadically throughout the afternoon, but they’d saved their business for their daily walk and it was time to go.

There was something to this that made my heart flutter – Photo: L. Weikel

Reluctance

I looked out our kitchen door and could see ominous billows of dark gray clouds piling up in the distance. A couple of times I was lucky enough to snag a sighting of some breakthrough rays of sunshine beaming onto the Earth like searchlights from Mars. But then those holes would quickly disappear behind some quick maneuvering of cloud cover.

Given the cloud situation and the pall of darkness they cast over the early evening, I was reluctant to even ‘do a stop sign.’ ‘Doing a stop sign’ is the shortest distance Karl and I will usually walk if we’re extra tired or if choppy weather threatens to ‘rain’ down on us at any moment. It was bleak. It was obvious that even the pups weren’t sure whether we’d make it out tonight.

Luckily, we persevered. We put dinner on hold, hooked up our harnesses, and set off. And when I say ‘luckily’ we persevered, I mean the artistry we encountered on our walk was such a blessing to my soul that I can only call it fantastic good fortune that we took our walk at precisely that moment.

Widen the perspective and soften your gaze and a Raccoon’s face is the Watcher – Photo: L. Weikel

A Work of Art

There’s no way I could’ve predicted we’d see any color in the sky when we left the house. As I mentioned, the clouds were dark and threatening, and approaching quickly. But when we rounded the corner and I turned to glance over my shoulder, my breath caught in my throat.

Those of you who’ve been reading my posts for any length of time know that I’m hardly a sunset newbie. Which is why the way tonight’s sunset pierced my heart and transported me to a place of numinous wonder took me by surprise. I don’t know if it was the unique hue or tone or the way the color seemed to emanate and at the same time reflect itself. It transported me. And somehow I felt a connection to something bigger.

And if the pups hadn’t needed a quick constitutional, I would’ve missed it completely.

Which does make me wonder what other wonders await a simple decision on my part to be seen and appreciated.

(T+103)

Need a Walk – ND #53

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Brutus has the right idea – Photo: L. Weikel

Need a Walk

Oooh baby, I need a walk. I got caught up in an appointment that required me to be inside all afternoon. When I emerged from my sojourn into other realms, the sun had set.

I stood at the kitchen door, staring at the western sky, the storm door caked with frost and ice crystals from repeated openings to accommodate our four-leggeds. I yearned to walk, but there was zero enthusiasm for it from Karl or the pups. I could sense the temperature had plunged, and I didn’t want to become chilled to the bone.

But the colors left in the sun’s wake were tantalizing. If anything can get me out of the house it’s a sunset with an exploding palette. For once, though, I yielded to the plaintive glances of Pacha and Brutus. (I tend to make them ‘walk off’ their reticence – and had to do so almost the entire past week.)

Too freaking cold to walk – Photo: L. Weikel

Tonight

There’s always the chance that I might decide to take a walk – even if a short one – on my own. This is especially true if the sky is tantalizingly clear or there are meteor showers or other phenomena occurring through the night. But Karl just said, “I won’t stand in your way; do what you need to do. But I promise you – it is cold.”

In the end, hunger won out.

Something tells me I made a wise choice. Perhaps this screenshot of The Weather Channel I took only minutes ago? Yeah, that’s persuasive. If it feels like -5 degrees, I have no interest in proving how I can power through it.

It’s funny, now that I think about it. Was it more of an Act of Power to say no to that part of myself that demands I walk every day? Or should I have made myself do it? Yet again, my spontaneous ‘sighting’ of the Rune Isa earlier in the week and integration of its message of Standstill echoes in my thoughts.

I can revel in the snow and take that yearned-for walk tomorrow. Tonight I needed to be quiet, power down, and allow my batteries to recharge. (And – p.s. – judging from this screenshot, below, I should’ve gone to bed a bit earlier. This is what can happen when you fall asleep at your keyboard! YIKES!)

Oops. Shouldn’t fall asleep with your hands on the keyboard. Photo: L. Weikel

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Auspicious – Day 870

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Turkey on 202 – Photo: L. Weikel

Auspicious

Balmy weather returned once again today and I admit to reveling in it. It’s amazing what an additional ten degrees can do to turn a chilly day into one that rivals perfection. And to top it off, I even encountered a turkey ‘crossing the road’ on Route 202 right in front of me. Given that she made it across four lanes of traffic and a concrete median unscathed, I’d give the day a solid 10 out of 10 on the Auspicious Scale.

The appearance of Turkey (capitalized because I am referencing it as an archetype, not just a single bird that happened to be crossing the road) tends to signify a gift or the act of giving to others selflessly (sometimes even of one’s self). Naturally, Karl and I felt especially lucky to have encountered a wild turkey hen in Doylestown of all places (including a gobbling commentary) as she trotted across the median and into oncoming lanes of traffic. Thankfully, she managed to get to the other side of those lanes of traffic before any too aggressively approached her.

I just wish you could hear the audio on the photo I’ve posted, above. It almost sounds like she’s talking to herself. She’s not engaging in indignant gobblings. It actually sounds more like she’s just mumbling to herself. Probably providing a commentary on stupid human drivers.

Even Fit In a Walk

We also managed to fit in a walk after our auspicious Turkey encounter. I’m pretty sure the stunning beauty of the evening was a big part of the ‘gift’ that this particular turkey was announcing in our lives.

I’m trying to figure out how to do justice to the pitched excitement of witnessing a battle between Crow nations that unfolded before our eyes on our walk this evening.

The photos just don’t do it justice.

So I’m going to end this post tonight with the gift of the sunset that graced us just as the policeman who investigated our smashed mailbox pulled up to us.

To be continued…

Sunset 30 March 2021 – Photo: L. Weikel

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If I Didn’t Know Better – Day 868

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Finale of a Spectacular Sunset – Photo: L. Weikel

If I Didn’t Know Better

It’s almost midnight and the towering pine trees across the road from our front door are leaning away from the surging wind, bending and hoping they can withstand the relentless onslaught coming at them from the west. If I didn’t know better, the sound of the wind punishing those trees make me think of angry surf pounding the beach during a Nor’easter.

We already lost our electricity once this evening. I’m grateful it was restored within fifteen minutes. We’re lucky; I know. As I listen to our windows rattle and the air bombarding us literally causing a “Wooooon-oooo” that sounds like a stereotypical ghost, I just hope the trees in our area can stand firm.

Our walk this afternoon revealed lots of broken limbs shattered on the roadway. Probably not unrelated, we also found at least three different chunks of plastic trim from automobiles near these smashed branches. I’m not sure if they were there last night when we walked. It was too dark for us to notice. But it’s a fact that we scour our roadways daily, so I’m thinking these trees did some damage to passing vehicles yesterday.

Sky Fire Sunset 1 – Photo: L. Weikel

What a Difference a Day Makes

Just yesterday, before we took our walk, we were initiating our porch to the 2021 spring season. We knew we needed to get some porch time in as expeditiously as possible because the forecast for today was precisely how it played out: dark, wet, and dreary early, with a dramatic shift in temperature and temperament late this afternoon.

The sun and light yesterday kept shifting and changing in every moment, to the point where we were practically on sunset overload. We were so enchanted by the ‘sky fire’ that we ended up taking our walk later than usual. I was thus relegated to taking most of the photos of the sunset from our porch – all but the final shot, which I took as we walked ‘widdershins’ – counterclockwise – around our usual circuit.

Sunset Sky Fire 2 – Photo: L. Weikel

Lion or…?

March may still have an opportunity to go out like a lamb this month. We have a couple more days left for it to change its mind and tame its ways. But between trees that have been ravaged by the Emerald Ash Borer and the soft ground left even more juicy by all the rain we’ve had, I think the chances of us remaining unscathed by the temperamental attitude of this month is slim. It feels like a potential Lion in/Lion out this year. But we’ll see.

Sunset Sky Fire 3 – Photo: L. Weikel

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Quiet Times – Day 815

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Stalking the Sunset – Photo: L.Weikel

Quiet Times

Most of the walks Karl and I have taken over the past few days have been in silence. Sometimes that happens because we’ve had an argument and neither one of us wants to speak to the other. Other times, though – the peaceful quiet times – we’re often walking in awed silence, overwhelmed by the cacophony of colors and configurations Nature paints before our eyes.

Tonight was one of those peaceful quiet times.

We both were lucky enough to be ending a day in which we found ourselves lost in our work. Lost in that positive sense of becoming so immersed in what we were doing that hours slipped by without notice. Even better, our enchantment was a result of focusing on matters that foster creative thought, new horizons, and whisper of possible adventures.

And so it was when we pulled our heads from the clouds and looked at each other across the room, with Spartacus expectantly glancing from one to the other of us, that we realized he was jonesing for a walk. What time was it? Suddenly we realized we might miss another sunset if we didn’t drop everything at that very moment and get ourselves outside now.

Photo: L. Weikel

Widdershins

Oh, but when we walked outside, the condition of the western sky defied description. It went without saying that I would try to capture at least some of the meteorological artistry for later, for now, but to do would entail ‘going widdershins.’

Going widdershins simply means walking (or whatever) counterclockwise – not unlike unscrewing a jar. We are admittedly creatures of habit, Karl and I. We mostly walk clockwise. But every once in a while – even energetically – it’s a healthy thing to walk in the opposite direction than we usually do. It gives us an opportunity to let things go, to see our usual route from a different perspective, to loosen things up. It’s a simple part of a healthy energetic practice.

None of those were the foundation of my suggestion we go widdershins tonight, though. No. I suggested it because I knew the sunset wouldn’t wait for us to make it around to my favorite spot for sky snapping. Any chance of capturing even the briefest of breathless moments would have to be deliberately stalked.

So we did. And we were rewarded.

Winter Sunset – Photo: L. Weikel

Hardest Part

The hardest part of our walk this evening was choosing which photos to send to my laptop for inclusion in this post. Sharing tonight’s peaceful quiet time was a balm to my soul. I’m pretty sure Karl feels the same. He didn’t say – but the sunset reflected in his smiling eyes.

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Closer and closer – Day 768

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Saturn & Jupiter 12/18/2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

Closer and Closer

If you haven’t taken a walk at sunset lately, I implore you to do so soon. Like tomorrow. And Sunday. Better yet, walk at sunset on Monday to celebrate the Winter Solstice and behold the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the western sky. As I’ve been documenting with photos and the occasional post, these two planets are inching closer and closer to each other, culminating on the same day as winter officially begins here in the Northern Hemisphere.

One thing I’ve come to realize from writing this 1111 Devotion is that I’m an astronomy nerd. I never realized just how much I cherish my ability to look up. I’ve also discovered how much joy it gives me to share the awe I feel whenever we have the chance to witness the many mysteries that surround and visit us here on Earth.

I also realize that when I want to deliberately refrain from writing about the comings and goings and doings and undoings of our fellow human beings, it helps for me to focus on the stars and the planets and the luminaries.

Tomorrow Night

Perhaps tomorrow night I’ll write a little more about the significance of the practically simultaneous occurrence of the Winter Solstice and the so-called Grand Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. I suspect you’ve noticed that occurrences here on Earth have rather reliably been tracking the influences the movement of the largest (and furthest away from us) planets in our solar system, specifically Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

These planets are much more slow moving and have a distinctively different ‘flavor’ of impact upon us humans than the more rapidly moving planets. The movements of those outer planets is definitely more profound.

In the meantime, look up, my friends. Appreciate the wonder that surrounds us and unfolds in amazing ways, right above our heads, every single day.

 

Jupiter and Saturn getting very cozy – 12/18/2020; Photo: L. Weikel

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Rapturous Beauty – Day 694

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Rays of Hope – Photo: L. Weikel

Rapturous Beauty

I’ve always loved living where four distinct seasons occur. And I’ve never quite been able to name a favorite season. Each has its own unique charm and reasons to love it. But I have to say, this fall, beginning just at the equinox (September 22) and persisting into this October, has kissed us with some rapturous beauty.

On our walk this evening, it was almost as if Karl and I were struck dumb with the surreal beauty that kept unfolding around us. Funny thing is, not only was it unfolding around us, but it also felt as though it were wrapping us up, cocooning us, enfolding us in a warm embrace of hope.

Propaganda

We are being subjected to some pretty thick and intense propaganda lately. We’re being whipsawed from one dire situation to another, one outrageous slashing of norms and decency to the next.

As a result, we’re left feeling vulnerable and raw.

And what message do we keep receiving day after day? Take a walk. Look up. Immerse yourself in nature. Listen to the crickets. Notice the clouds. Watch the wind swirl the leaves off the trees and carry them miles away.

Hopefully, this pandemic has shifted all of our lives enough to make every single one of us realize just how important maintaining a direct connection with Mother Nature.

If you’re still on the fence, I offer you the two photos I’m including in this post. Look at them. They are unfiltered.

Open Your Heart

I love how rays of light piercing the sky the way they are in the photo at the top of this post make me feel that hope is alive and well and an utterly vital sense to have and maintain.

And then – I don’t know what to tell you. The photo below, which is simply a shot of some of the wonderful trees lining the dirt road that we walk along every night, makes my heart want to break wide open in an outpouring of joy.

I realize that sounds radical and a bit weird. It’s not necessarily a unique or special photograph in many senses of the word. But there’s something about it. Every time I look at it, I feel a tug in my heart. I almost feel tears starting to form. I can’t explain it.

But maybe you will feel it too.

And if so, then my work for the evening is complete.

Sunset through the Trees – Photo: L. Weikel

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Sunset – Day 663

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Photo: L. Weikel

Sunset

Here we are. It’s Friday evening (or more likely Saturday morning by the time you read this) of Labor Day weekend, 2020.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the summer of the Covid-19 pandemic is galloping toward its unofficial end. And if you happened to be outside this evening you would have witnessed an utterly exquisite sunset leading this Labor Day parade.

What does it mean that we’re at the end of the summer? This year’s return to school is colossally screwed up. All anyone can do is keep their eyes on the daily tallies of infections and hospitalizations.

Oops!

I have to chuckle. I wrote the above couple of paragraphs and suddenly found myself sitting upright, coughing.

Yes, I fell asleep in the middle of writing my post for the day.

I’m appalled at myself. It was a hard snooze, too.

Take a look at these photos from earlier tonight, though. Not an owl to be heard, but oh my, the shifting colors splashed across the sky grew deeper and more lovely every minute that we walked.

Better Things

I do have one recommendation for you this weekend. If you haven’t started watching it yet, there is an absolutely binge-worthy show for you to check out this weekend: Better Things. It’s on Hulu.

Shout out to my sweet friend Cherry-Lee, who wrote about it on Facebook. I’d never even heard of it last week at this time. But based on her rave review of it, Karl and I started watching this week and – oh my. It is one of the best shows!

We just finished season two tonight and I feel like we’re only just getting into the really good stuff. I don’t want to give anything away. Trust me. It’s quirky and funny and poignant and maddening. Shocking sometimes, too.

It’s worth your time. You won’t regret it.

Pretty Sunset – 4 Sept 2020; Photo: L. Weikel

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Intensity Abounds – Day 428

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Intensity Abounds

Quite honestly, I don’t think I remember a time when I’ve personally witnessed so much major, disruptive stuff occurring in the lives of those around me, seemingly all at once. While some people’s lives are being thrown into disarray, others are experiencing growth, transformation, and new horizons (all of which also produces its own brand of excitement and stress). Intensity abounds – and sometimes the stress of it all means we don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

For me, at least in this moment, I think the most surprising thing is that whatever is bringing in all of this radical change – be it planetary influences, lunar eclipses, or the upcoming 2020 election, it doesn’t seem to be happening to people in a tidy ‘once and done’ fashion.

Rather, some people are being rocked by incidents happening to them in waves. They’ll go a day or two feeling battered and bruised and – voila! – another challenge comes whipping around the corner headed right at them. Again.

Ordinarily I’d be share more details, but quite honestly, I keep falling asleep at my keyboard – and I swear, it’s Spirit’s way of ensuring I don’t go into any details.

In Spite of It All: Hang in There

Life can change in the blink of an eye. I’ve lived it.

And while it is almost impossible to truly and appropriately appreciate and fully, deeply, and exquisitely celebrate all of the friends and family, two legged and four, that we share our lives with on a regular basis, I’d be willing to bet we each can ‘do better.’

Just from what I’ve witnessed directly over the past couple of days, there are many huge aspects of people’s lives coming to an end; some deliberately and some not. At the same time, there may be new and unique experiences – many unexpected and potentially delightful – appearing in our lives that we only dreamed possible last week.

And then others are feeling as though their lives are being lived in snow globes. Suddenly everything is topsy turvy, but if we sit quietly enough, the things we loved the most will, if we’re patient, settle back into place.

Sunset sky ablaze – Jan 2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

Patience

While walking this evening, we once again experienced that astonishing way sunsets lead us on to greater and greater beauty.

Some sunsets are model teachers of patience. Have you, like me, looked at the sky and simply had to take its photo right then and there because it couldn’t possibly become more beautiful? Only to find, actually, waiting even one more minute brings a different flavor of beauty. And the minute after that, our hearts feel so full we almost don’t know what to do with it all.

That’s how I felt this evening. That’s what I tried to capture in some of these photos.

The Tower – Again

Tonight, the ripple of worry I felt when I chose the Tower card underneath my Judgment card last week raised goosebumps at the back of my neck again. The goosebumps subsided, and the ripple dispersed – for now. But these times really and truly are intense.

We are having so much ripped away – and hopefully also being given chances to rebuild.

Take care of yourselves. And each other.

Sunset always shifting – Jan 2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

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Wild Sunset  – Day 329

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Weird sunset (No filter) 4 October 19 – Photo: L.Weikel

Wild Sunset  

The sunset in the above photo was not tonight’s. It was taken Friday night, while Karl and I were taking a walk.

I have to say, I was thrilled when the colors of the evening sky actually came through accurately. I’m always trying to snap at just the perfect moment when the automatic focus is hitting the sweet spot, usually ever so briefly. It’s an elusive game I play with myself. And to be honest, I rarely win.

But Friday night? Yeah. I won the lottery. Take another look at that photo and really take in the exquisite manner in which the colors segue into each other not subtly, as is often the case, but dramatically. Blue sky here – and boom – yellow/orange butting right up to it. No gradual or subtle blending or shading.

Next Night

After experiencing that amazing sunset roughly halfway through our walk, I have to tell you: we were also enchanted by the night sky as the stars became more and more brilliant the longer we walked. Alas, you’re all spared my rather hackneyed attempts at trying to share what I see in that regard, since shots of the stars and moon are notoriously difficult to take. The beauty of the constellations, though, was exquisite.

Then, during yesterday’s walk, we crested one of our hills along our circuit and came upon a feast in the making. It turned out that someone nearby had lost one of their chickens. And from the looks of the carcass, it was quite obviously a fine, healthy layer-of-eggs.

Photos: L. Weikel

Nevertheless, I was surprised at how bold these vultures (which we were taught to call ‘peace eagles’ years and years ago) were in hanging close to us. If you look closely, you will see a number of them lurking on the branches of surrounding trees, as well as out front,

Once again, I took a bunch of photos with my iPhone, and all in all, I think they turned out pretty well. I can assure you, none of the five or six peace eagles were all that off-put by our presence; at least, the delicious morsels this sacrificial chicken was providing them were more than worth the choice to stick their ground and not fly off in a frenzy of fear.

Personally, I’m feeling their appearance this weekend was all about encouraging both Karl and me to allow the old ways of thinking and resisting to die. It’s time to recycle those old thoughts and limiting beliefs so that new experiences can be seen, experienced, and celebrated. And finally, it’s all worth the time it’s taking to bring in the new.

Here’s to a new and improved week of exploration in all that’s possible!

Taking flight – Photo: L. Weikel

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