Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. ~ May Sarton Photo by Andrew Coop on Unsplash Continue reading

When the mind is festering with trouble or the heart torn, we can find healing among the silence of mountains or fields, or listen to the simple, steadying rhythm of waves. The slowness and stillness gradually takes us over. Our breathing deepens and our hearts calm and our hungers relent. When serenity is restored, new perspectives open to us and difficulty can begin to seem like an invitation to new growth. This invitation to friendship with nature does of course entail a willingness to be … Continue reading

The environment is in us, not outside of us. The trees are our lungs, the rivers our bloodstream. We are all interconnected, and what you do to the environment ultimately you do to yourself. ~ Ian Somerhalder Photo by Matthew Smith on Unsplash Continue reading

Enjoy these gems of insight into the hidden life of trees and then go take a walk in the forest - you'll discover a whole new kinship with these gentle giants: “If we want to use forests as a weapon in the fight against climate change, then we must allow them to grow old, which is exactly what large conservation groups are asking us to do.” Continue reading

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~ Albert Einstein Photo by David Monje on Unsplash Continue reading

The Botticellian Trees The alphabet of the trees is fading in the song of the leaves the crossing bars of the thin letters that spelled winter and the cold have been illumined with pointed green by the rain and sun the strict simple principles of straight branches are being modified by pinched out ifs of color, devout conditions the smiles of love . . . . . . . . until the stript sentences move as a woman’s limbs under cloth and praise from secrecy quick with desire love’s … Continue reading

The world is taking a pause… As we celebrate the Solstice on 21 June – Summer in the Northern Hemisphere and Winter in the South – the Wheel of Life seems almost to stand still. There are so many ways to mark this timeless moment with gratitude, before the Wheel resumes its journey of life. Celtic Festival of Lithia It feels as if life comes to a brightly lit standstill as the sun’s position stays nearly the same for a few days either side of the Summer Solstice, here in the north of Scotland. … Continue reading

As the Solstice approaches, we are reminded that change is the order of nature. Light gives way to darkness; in darkness is the seed of light. How does this order of change appear in the world around you? How does the interplay of darkness and light cross your field of vision in daily life? Starhawk Photo by Benjamin Kubitza on Unsplash Continue reading