Sisters

Sisters,

We are being warned, right now, to keep the different ages of our families apart, so the young do not infect the old.  This feels unnatural, but it allows us time to create, to communicate in more mindful ways with each other.  This means I will be spending more time on nature’s paths, and posting Gifts from the Trail more often…see below.

I’m standing below five tall sisters of pine; each finds her height, her stillness in the depth of the lake.  To reach them, I’ve walked for hours as my husband and son watch a “guy movie”.  I realize that the corona virus has put me under a ban on all but the briefest contact with women, and while the men follow superheroes, I seek goddesses in every form  — quick-running streams, cascades of blackbird song, young saplings whose limbs have just begun to lift.

I find myself writing paeons to the qualities of those I miss, to all women.  I arrange flowers, apples, many kind roundnesses on my desk.  I indulge my love of colour and of scent, and send messages to female family members and friends to let each sense grow by the telling and the sharing of it. 

The two feline sisters who share my home fascinate me more than ever.  Though buried deep in the luxury of themselves, the cats let me share their live awareness of my presence, their willingness to open toward one who loves the world as much as they do. 

A single hunting spider, warming herself on the roof above my cooktop, soothes me with her calm, her quiet presence.  The paleonopsis orchid in my kitchen window, blush-coloured and sprouting buds, reminds me that Spring is a season felt most keenly my those who give birth, who feel the fluids of their bodies rise with the flood of new warmth.

Know that none of us is alone, even in this seeming separation,

Stelle

For those of you who might have trouble finding the link,I’m happy to copy a post straight in to the body of an email to you.  Please message me for help with the posts in any way.  Once you’re in, keep checking the link for posts you might have missed.

Also, I invite all women who read this to let me know how you are feeling our separation from one another, how you are coping, how you are contributing to those who are in need, and how you will celebrate when, finally we are allowed to come together again.