Nature and the Soul

Hello All,

I just got back from a week’s trip to the Canadian wilderness. The place was way up in northern Ontario where fall has just arrived. The Moose are in rut, the Salmon are spawning, the Beaver are gathering twigs for the winter hibernation and the residents are stacking cord upon cord of hardwood to keep warm in the coming winter.

It’s always a surprise to leave what we think is summer in the South and travel several hundred miles North and suddenly, as if by acclimation, it’s fall. The early part of the day was in the low 30's. Mist from the warmer water hid the dawn's early light on the lake. Splashes of red permeate the Maples. The Birches are intermittent yellow and the Oaks seem to keep their green long past a deep frost and then they keep the lingering brown until a fierce wind forces the leaves to relinquish their hold.

I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the haunting sound of the Loon’s call. It is special and reminding to the mind that the spirit is in control and the body is just going along for the ride.

I was gliding in and out of coves and rocky cuts along the lake in my Kayak and came upon, not only the fishing Loons, but also a Beaver heading to his lodge. He tail slapped the water to warn his family and friends of an intruder.

In such times of intimate connections with nature the soul is energize to acknowledge something greater than itself. Perhaps it is itself and the recognition is both a knowing and a surprise for in our busy lives we forget the interconnection.

What I do know for certain is that silence is the pure conduit to Nature and it is renewing to both body and spirit.