This morning I dropped Ruth off at work before 8, then proceeded to a stretch of unmaintained rough road through an expansive marsh in Prince Edward County. It is only a few minutes away from downtown Belleville yet I nearly always alone there. I love the big sky, water, and solitude.
Alone? That's not true, unless I'm referring to humans. In the warmer months the area is teeming with bird life. Even at this time of year there are creatures to behold. As I came to Sawguin Creek on foot I could see the head of a muskrat peering at me through a hole in the newly formed ice, only to disappear, and then reappear a few minutes later. As I left I saw a Northern Harrier, aptly nicknamed the marsh hawk, patrolling for breakfast. I regularly see deer in the same area, as well as the tracks of coyotes.
I find comfort in the realization that I'm in the midst of a "cloud of witnesses" as I walk. I am enjoying my retirement rambles and find that my deepest communion with God these days is as I walk, either on my own or in Ruth's company. She too can walk in the silence without any sense of discomfort or awkwardness about the lack of speech. Again, I think of Robin Wall Kimmerer and her book Braiding Sweetgrass. In it she encourages humans to "learn the grammar of animacy" (a chapter title.) Kimmerer says that when we listen in wild places we are audience to conversations in a language not our own and we must learn to speak that language. She is a scientist and she is Potawatomi, so she speaks the language of a biologist and is slowly learning the language of her heritage which is more attuned to the cadences of wild places.
In the cattail domain of Marsh Rd. other languages are spoken by creatures that are not "its" but "thous." I want to respect them as God's creation, not as disposable because they're not human, or as a backdrop to my experience. I have a deepening conviction that until we figure this out we will never have the will to care for our planet in any effective way, and time's a wastin'.
Thoughts?
Kevin and I will be checking this place out for sure. Family recently moved to Belleville so we are there more frequently. Over the past few years Kevin has been my eagle eye. We have learned to listen and watch in the quiet, and often Kevin points and I get my lens ready without so much as a word between us. We always come back from these excursions feeling that we've been somewhere almost ethereal,so much so that we avoid running errands on the way home. Picking up paper towels or kitty litter at Walmart breaks the spell too abruptly.We try to avoid that jolt.
ReplyDeleteWe're available for possible ramble sites, directions, and even guided tours Lori.
ReplyDeleteThat would be great David. I am certain you will be amused by my "bird" lens. It is nearly as big as my leg, but even so I won't let Kevin carry it. Stubborn old goat that I have become :)
ReplyDeleteGoats are God’s creatures too.
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