Discovering....

A walk in the forest yesterday to search for bluebells. It felt like winter had returned. Hunched down against the icy wind and rain that bit into any exposed skin.
After my body has relaxed into warm sunshine days like this always feel so harsh.

While wandering I saw a flash of red amongst the green moss. I bent to have a look and then noticed them everywhere.
The storm that had blown through had covered the floor with young pine cones.

Reminding me of how little we notice until we actually do. That first acknowledgement of the existence of something opens us up to seeing the abundance around us. The noticing of the first one seems to lift the spell of invisibility cast over all others.

This is why my wanders always have a place to sit and watch the world. I return often to these same spots, at different times of the year. Just sitting and noticing.
Using all the senses, not just sight.
What can I see?
What can I smell?
What can I hear?
What can I taste?
What can I feel?

Over time it’s as if the landscape relaxes into my presence and starts to reveal things that previously had gone unnoticed. The colours, the variety of lichen and moss, the little signs that show the passing of another creature. A friendship that grows deeper with time spent with each other.

I collected the pine cones and created this mandala on the moss.
Created for the earth and for a special someone in my life.

A little prayer, a blessing, a thank you.