Happy Earth Day, friends!

Wendell Berry’s poetry blessed the opening of our writing circle this week.  Then, the ‘inside’ women wrote about their relationships to earth, to circles, and to growing trees.

Here’s a lovely piece in which one writer recalled an ‘a-ha moment’ in a pine forest:

As I walk through these woods, I first think I am alone. Yet, there is so much I see and hear all at once.  I take a couple of steps back, feeling as if I have invaded a secret place, a special place. I look up and see the sunlight breaking through the dense pine trees, splashing rays of light at my feet. I look to my left and see a shallow stream flowing over smooth rocks. ..the wind gently blowing and swaying pine boughs. I wonder, do I dare walk over to that fallen tree and take a seat? I try to be silent in my steps, to go and sit peacefully. I close my eyes as I sit, and I can smell the pine. I can hear the stream moving along. As I open my eyes, I realize I am not trespassing on someone else’s woods.  I am part of this special place. I know my heart beats like the pulsing of these woods.