Anne Notations

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Serenity

Click on photos to enlarge.


THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.


I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.


And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
– Wendell Berry

4 Comments:

  • Beautiful pictures; lovely poem.

    By Blogger bozoette, at Tue Jan 15, 10:54:00 AM EST  

  • The poem and the pictures are mindbogglingly beautiful. I love tyhe ripples on the water - is that ice or froth?

    By Blogger rabbi neil fleischmann, at Tue Jan 15, 11:25:00 AM EST  

  • Neil, I think you are referring to the ripples left on the sand by the receding tide. The water sculpts these beautiful patterns as it gradually lowers to low tide levels. When I took these photos, the tide was extremely low and I had walked (in my waterproof low boots) out onto a sand bar beside some rocks -- an area normally underwater.

    I try always to look in all directions when I'm outdoors, no matter what spectacle is going on with the sunset or whatever! There are such precious details in the sand, grasses, etc. that I don't want to miss.

    These sculpted sand ripples remind me of those Japanese miniature desktop sand gardens where you use a tiny rake to make such patterns around little rocks, for relaxation and meditation. I'm glad you liked this photo.

    By Blogger Unknown, at Tue Jan 15, 12:14:00 PM EST  

  • Lovely. Makes me wanna be there.

    I uh, do sand rake designs in my cats' litter box when I clean it for them, they seem to like it. :) (Hey, if I didn't tell, no one would ever know.)

    By Blogger BrideOfPorkins, at Thu Jan 17, 06:01:00 PM EST  

Post a Comment

<< Home