| Feb.
2002
In the day time my body and mind is stimulated by visual colors that continuously change as I go about my daily chores. I find my mind moving from subject to subject. I interact with others, responding to needs, make choices and all these stimulus keeps me very involved. But when I go out into the night to view, a transformation begins. Slowly I let go of the days events. It is a gradual slowing down of the senses of the body to a comforting level where the mind can think singular. I fight it as I am confused by the simplicity of thinking in a singular form. No more deadlines, no more insults to the body by the world. As I stand alone under the veil of stars with my telescope readied for viewing, I notice with the visual curtailed, I can began to hear nature talking though the expression of sound and smell. It is a soft talk, of rustling leaves, crickets under foot, or a call of a dove. Frogs reflect the nearness of water. Mating calls between two Great Horn Owls brings a new gentle haunting sound that connects me to the earth. One night a Screech Owl spent the whole evening trying to tell me he owned the field next to where I was viewing. Crickets become the earth’s heart beat. The air seems sweeter, cooler and it baths my face with a gentle touch. Voles rustle under the leaves near by. A small breeze, which neutrons might have originated from the core of our galaxy, drifts down to the floor of the forest and collects the fragrances of the earthen pine and honey suckle. It drops off two scents and brings up three more. The earthy smells clean out the days drudgery and transforms my being into quiet rest. The earth is solid beneath my feet but yet I float. The blackness hides my body in shadows. I have no shape, no presence. My mind is standing in the woods just allowing only the sounds and smells to be present. In the daytime the mind is bombarded by thousands of objects, colors,
shapes and movements. When I view my mind can center on one object,
light in color, rich in sparkle, wonder and newness. It gives me the
satisfaction of discovery. Repeating this as the night progresses,
brings a quietness to a world often caught off guard. For in the
stillness of viewing through a telescope comes the joy of looking at far
away untouched splendor.
Were we created to experience the hustle and bustle of this modern world? Or where we created to be more in tune with mother nature? Do we flock to the stars for what we can see and find? Or could it be that the quiet stillness of the night, offers us the rest we so richly need for our health. My world can change all around me, disrupt me and lead me astray. But the night sky is always there waiting for me, unchanged, except for the movements of the earth. When I look at Cygnus I find it constant and true. I can get lost in its beauty and charm. I can go out into the night and not view. I can sit on the ground and just be quiet. I can go out even when it is cloudy and still find the peace. The Moon can chase shadows on the ground before me. It’s night light can offer me the chance to walk around in the woods. All this offer the mind a simplicity, a world just black and white, and a new way to be still. After a night of interaction with the heavens and the sounds and smells of the woodland world, I find the drudgery of the next day becomes nothing, it has no hold on me. I find that the quiet created within me, calms down any disruptions that might come my way. I move slower, more precise in my decisions and directions. To bad someone couldn’t bottle it. They would be rich. Or maybe its bottled in the mind just by looking in a telescope on a night with all the sounds and smells. |
