Saturday, November 29, 2008

SEA 2 - Another Trip Around the Sun

For me Thanksgiving always has a completely different conotation then
others have. This is the day that I head off to the forest, and plan
out my next year of existance. It is time to reflect upon the past
year, and to enjoy the cycle of nature about me. This year has been a
beautiful one. From the winters of Quebec, to the summer along the
Pacific Crest, the fall among the beauty of an Okanogan Apple Orchard
to these days besides the whisper of tide waves of the Puget Sound, I
feel like a lucky man to be able to travel so, and thankful to those I
have meet along the way. Now bound to a winter and summer benieth the
Cascade White Mtns, I gain a sence of the direction that this summer
pointed. My favorite poet spoke it well, Mountains and Rivers Without
End; and indeed that is what I have come to understand of my life.

Yesterday I took the time to walk along the upper reaches of the
Snoqualmie to Dutch Miller Gap. With the mountains of the Alpine Lakes
vaulting upwards like a Himalayan dream, I could only feel but
enclosed in the warm cloak that these mountains fire my heart. With
water streaking white out of each spout of forest green, white
mountains covered in mist, and the roar of the rivers returning to the
Sea, it was enough to provoke a man to believe.

Do these mountains hold spirits, hidden in the rivers flow, the
lichen covered rock bluff, the skyward grasping tree, or the echoing
Ka of Lord Raven. These woods hold me like a spell, and with a year to
behold their lessons, I look forward to this 32nd year of life to
celebrate and learn what my home woods have to teach.

Like rolling drums the views of the High Cascades lure me forward and
seal my fate for the coming year, into the inner sancturay of the
glacier clad five and the ridges of hiding gems. Each of them will
find me lured to their high flanks in the coming year, and climb them
I shall. Some people look upon high places to conqure, but there is
far more to learn by following the elegant ridgelines, lead on like a
woman leading you higher. Respected they may well reveal their
summits, but only to those that pay homage to their beauty and natural
power. One climbs only on the mountains terms...

With the close of a day of reflection, I spent in warm waters of a
Hotsprings cave along a rain forest river. As I watched the steam come
off the waters edge, I could only be humbled by a soul that passed
from this world. A powerful spirit that will be missed, and while
looking up at maple baughs leafless, I am reminded of the spirit of
cycles, and rebirth will return to her spirit, and the land. For enjoy
the winter, and the power just before birth. For if it comes in the
seed of a newborn, the visionof a dream, or in the grove before the
dawn of the spring. Each holds such a magical offering to the spirit
to live between the worlds that to miss it would be a shame. Watch the
moments before the dawn, they hold the gentle essence of life...

Along the waters of a Seattle Rain Retreat,
Ridgewalker
山武士
ridgewalkernw.blogspot.com

Monday, November 17, 2008

SEA 1 - Seattle Rain Retreat

Back from a long adventure the city has just as many wonders as the mountains do. I begin to think of Buddhist Monks walking the length of the Ganges and Himalaya, to take the time of the monsoon season as reflection and meditation time. It was here that they took on the lessons of the Bodhisattva's before heading out on their pilgrimages once again. My time in Seattle as I save for the next expedition and endeavor to learn more of the natural history of the places I have been and where I am going as well. Hikes in the local mountains have much to bring here in Seattle and the Puget Sound Area. Soon the snow will fall in the cascades, and a new season will bring with it new thoughts. This will be my source of writing blogs till I leave on my next adventure in 2009... Enjoy

-- Ridgewalker