Through the web of the bare branches of the trees and the electrical wires, this sky was such a gift to watch outside of my desk windows a few nights ago…

I am always grateful for the ever-changing canvas that is the sky.

(Photo: My Evening Sky at Point Shore ~~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2012)

It’s been three and a half weeks since I last walked On The Parker River Path. The beaver dam pictured above was a familiar sight as we hiked Hellcat Swamp at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.

I learned while walking the Parker River Path to watch for nature’s changes each hike, as nature’s changes were life’s changes.

Sometimes we build a dam around us for protection. Sometimes we soar over the trees filled with joy. There are days when our lives are filled with turbulent winds and days when we light up like the sun.

I keep the lessons of the Parker River Path close to my heart right now, until I can walk that path again. The lessons of the Parker River Path give me faith that the Great Mother Goddess is always with us. She is the primal heartbeat within us all.

Reflections on now…

I find myself now in a place forced to stay some what less mobile (an understatement), than this fiercely independent woman is accustomed to enduring. My bottom line has always been, I just don’t stay down well. I’ve always had to do for myself in life, and my daughter, as I raised her alone. So what to do now that I am in this forced state of limited mobility?

The universe sometimes gives us a shove when a gentle push doesn’t work anymore… I’ve now been gifted with the time to clean up some serious procrastinations that have been hanging up my life.

That’s the blessing… If there is one to be seen in this mess…

First, I am taking some time and heeding the message that sometimes when the going gets tough, the tough do need to slow down and take some time to heal.

(Photo: Reflection Through the Trees at Hellcat Swamp ~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2012)

That sort of beauty which is called natural, as of vines, plants, trees, etc., consists of a very complicated harmony; and all the natural motions, and tendencies, and figures of the bodies in the universe are done according to proportions and therein is their beauty.  ~~ Jonathan Edwards

J. Krishnamurti…

Awareness is that state of mind which takes in everything -the crows flying across the sky, the flowers on the trees, the people sitting in front, the colors they are wearing- being extensively aware which needs watching, observing, taking in the shape of the leaf, the shape of the trunk, the shape of the head of another, what he is doing. To be extensively aware and from there acting, that is to be aware of the totality of one’s own being. To have a mere sectional capacity, a fragmentation of capacity or capacity fragmented, and to pursue that capacity and derive experience through that capacity which is limited—that makes the quality of the mind mediocre, limited, narrow. But an awareness of the totality of one’s own being, understood through the awareness of every thought and every feeling, and never limiting it, letting every thought and every feeling flower, and therefore being aware—that is entirely different from action or concentration that is merely capacity and therefore limited.

To let a thought flower or a feeling flower requires attention,not concentration. I mean by the flowering of a thought giving freedom to it to see what happens, what is taking place in your thought, in your feeling. Anything that flowers must have freedom, must have light; it cannot be restricted. You cannot put any value on it, you cannot say, “That is right, that is wrong; this should be, and that should not be”, thereby, you limit the flowering of thought. And it can only flower in this awareness. Therefore, if you go into it very deeply, you will find that this flowering of thought is the ending of thought. ~~ The Book Of Life

Last week on a rare sunny day here along the Merrimack River I was outside with my camera, watching the birds in my yard. The sun was slowly sinking to the west and the light on the new Spring leaves caught my eye and my lens.

I love the Shades of Spring…

The red maples are among my favorite trees and I’m blessed with two old beauties in the front of my house: 

It’s been a rather dreary Spring here on the river this year, but there are moments when my eye catches a perfect view of color that lights up my evening sky and fills my heart with gratitude…

There’s more Shades of Spring here.

(Photos: © Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

I look forward this day, that I may learn a new lesson. I look forward to this day that I may grow like the new leaves on the trees in the bright spring sun. ~~ Pamela J. Leavey

(Photo: New Leaves in Spring, April 2011 ~ © Pamela J. Leavey)

One of the things I love about where I live on the Merrimack River is that I have a wonderful view of the western sky in the evening. After a couple of days of rain, the clouds started to part early this evening and I looked out of my kitchen window to see a streak of pink across the sky. I grabbed my camera and took this from desk window:

And then I headed out the front door to catch a little view of the lovely sky with my lens…

I always feel there’s something very mystical about the bare branches of the trees reaching up to the sky.

(Photos: Evening Sky at Point Shore, Amesbury, MA, April 5, 2011 — © Pamela J. Leavey)

“Abundance is like the ocean it ebbs and it flows. Like the leaves on the trees, today so shall mine grow.” – Pamela Leavey

(Photo: Sandy Point, Plum Island – c. Pamela J. Leavey 2009)

I posted here last night that we were in the midst of a wild storm with driving rain and howling winds. Soon after I lost power. We’re in hour 21 now of the outage and I have heard through the town rumor mills that it could be Monday before power is restored in some of the many places that have power outages in the area.

I’m hanging out in Starbucks in downtown Newburyport right now with my laptop and a cup of Pike’s. Power is on in most of downtown Newburyport and downtown Amesbury. My house is right off downtown Amesbury, but we’re not among the lucky ones.

The temperature in the house was 54 when I left a couple of hours ago. Thank goodness it is not bitter cold out. The stove works (gas) and we still have hot water. I’m grateful for that.

I went out with the camera today but did not get far with taking photos of the downed trees that were in big part a cause of the power outages. I’ll be out tomorrow and will be post some photos… Not much to do with out power but hang out in Starbucks and partake of the WiFi.

UPDATE: I got home from Starbucks and my power was on… Thank goodness. Lot’s of folks I know are still in the dark.