Tides come in and go out. Pendulums sway to and fro. The moon waxes and wanes. There is a sacred rhythm, a heartbeat, to everything. Mother Nature’s rhythms can be fun to track, you just have to pay attention. (That’s a big JUST!) Somewhere along the way it becomes a part of your daily life. Ask a fish monger in a coastal town for the time. He’ll know if the tide is in or out, but not that it is exactly 3:49 at the moment.
Lately, I have tapped into this natural rhythm by tracking the sun’s arch from my own deck for the last few years. Yesterday the sun spent 10 minutes behind the second knob of Republic-casting it’s last shadow of the season over my deck from 2:12 to 2:22. Today, we were able to bask in the glow of the sun until it went behind the main fin at 2:58. Tomorrow, the sun will last till 3 p.m. How cool that I’m tracking the sun from my exact spot!
Most people don’t share my enthusiasm about my tracking the sun. In all actuality, it takes them aback seeing me wild-eyed and babbling about deepening shadows and lengthening days. I must admit it’s not necessarily the watching of the sun’s arch that gets me so stoked. (That’s actually the most quiet, peaceful, still part of my day.) It’s the idea that this ancient solar path is still being witnessed and very unskillfully documented by me. One human, one balcony, one earth, one sun, one solar system, one universe! I feel snail-small and I smile.
What from Mother Nature can you observe, track, or witness beginning today? Daily temperatures? How long does a bucket of water take to freeze in the barn? Spring will arrive soon. What dates will you begin to see flowers appear around your exact spot? Which comes first, the daffodil or the tulip? Get connected to something larger than yourself. Get outside and take notice.
Lately, I have tapped into this natural rhythm by tracking the sun’s arch from my own deck for the last few years. Yesterday the sun spent 10 minutes behind the second knob of Republic-casting it’s last shadow of the season over my deck from 2:12 to 2:22. Today, we were able to bask in the glow of the sun until it went behind the main fin at 2:58. Tomorrow, the sun will last till 3 p.m. How cool that I’m tracking the sun from my exact spot!
Most people don’t share my enthusiasm about my tracking the sun. In all actuality, it takes them aback seeing me wild-eyed and babbling about deepening shadows and lengthening days. I must admit it’s not necessarily the watching of the sun’s arch that gets me so stoked. (That’s actually the most quiet, peaceful, still part of my day.) It’s the idea that this ancient solar path is still being witnessed and very unskillfully documented by me. One human, one balcony, one earth, one sun, one solar system, one universe! I feel snail-small and I smile.
What from Mother Nature can you observe, track, or witness beginning today? Daily temperatures? How long does a bucket of water take to freeze in the barn? Spring will arrive soon. What dates will you begin to see flowers appear around your exact spot? Which comes first, the daffodil or the tulip? Get connected to something larger than yourself. Get outside and take notice.