In the deep mid winter...

Snow is well and truly here as I write... some drifts in front of the house are about four feet deep. 
The birds and wildlife flurry around, getting through pounds of nuts every few days.
The hawk came by the other day, fluffed up against the wind.

The colors this time of year are gorgeous... subtle hues of brown and grey and white against the soft lines of the hills.
Nicholas

The pink-golden of dawn rises over the mountains to the east and I am reminded of the approaching Winter Solstice, the shortest day, giving way to longer light. Every morning, the sky offers a gift for reflection, an opportunity for renewal, a reminder of the gift of awakening.

As the walls of the gorges, usually rushing with water, respond to the colder temperatures, creating their own living sculpture; I find I am deeply in awe of water...its ability to move from frozen, to liquid, to vapour. And in observing this quality, my mind goes to my studies of Chinese Medicine. The Water Element, in 5-Element Theory, is associated with the fear of the unknown, akin to pregnancy and the necessity of trusting that things are being formed, becoming whole, even when we are not able to fully see or comprehend them. 

This ice will gave way to water, the water will evaporate in the heat of summer's sun and with next winter the ice will return, and the cycle shall repeat itself anew....and so, to, my life. 

Judy