We are in the approach of the shortest day of the year, Dec. 20. The winter months can feel like a long dark tunnel through which we must pass endless hours in low light and shortened days. The moistness of the air is heavy, and the mists cling and linger in the fir and cedar branches shooting skyward.
The cloud layer is soddened and gray, and the distant memory of summer flowers feel at their very farthest. It is time to harvest the gifts hidden among the shadows in the woods and within our beautiful parks and beaches.
Drip-drip-drip go the rain droplets falling from wet branches as the breeze loosens them and they fall to the ground. The thirsty soil drinks them up and laughs a cheerful splash back to the ear. Mushrooms, rotted wood dissolving in the rains, laden covered branches with gray furry lichen, fallen leaves, evergreen huckleberry, salal, hummingbirds soldiering on, all come to mind as gifts of the season.
May we begin to see the beauty in the decay and regeneration process? Can we awaken to the messages of the sleepiness of our natural world to soothe, comfort and find joy in its dull and plain presence? Can it be a portal into healing our overly anxious nervous system?
Quiet moments in nature taken during a heated season of festive activities can offer us a chance to slow down and “be” in this time of year. Magically and mysteriously, the dark days can be an oasis of calm if we get outside and participate in its grayness.
Thanks to our Parks & Trails Foundation, we have many choices from which to choose our “peaceful place” and find solace.
– Virginia H. Davison