Summer has begun. I hope it finds you well. The veggies are planted after a cool and very windy spring in New Mexico. In fact, the wind has hardly ceased. Not a breeze, but strong, steady winds that bend trees, stretch flags and move dust from one state to another, and fuel forest fires or push their smoke into distant places reminding us of nature’s immense power. The wind, called vayu in Sanskrit is air, moving between low and high pressures caused by temperature, the earth’s movement and the phenomena of diffusion.
By some notions, ayuredic for one, when air is unbalanced, it becomes compulsive, driven, scattered and undependable. I feel the movement and it is somewhat how I’m feeling these days. Outwardly normal, tending to chores, connecting with friends and family (from a safe distance)…wait, what did I just say? “From a safe distance?” Only three months ago that would refer to watching nature, say a grizzly bear in Yellowstone with binoculars…a safe distance. Now it means keeping others and more than arms length. Even those you care for.
So the unbalanced sense of seemingly constant winds combined with the specter of many unknowns from health to politics has sort of disoriented my usual focus and drive. Planting seeds, nurturing the garden, pruning trees are ways I work through periods of aimlessness.
I wrote more on the current pandemic in this post…
On a brighter note, swimming as you might know (here are previous posts along these lines) is an activity that I am drawn to for no explicable reason. Perhaps it is the sense of gentle support in water. I feel support while others fear drowning. Why is that? With gratitude, twice a week I drive from Santa Fe to Abiquiu New Mexico to swim in the resevoir. Abiquiu is a derivation of the original pueblo inhabitants (Tewa) who called this place Phešu’u meaning “timber point.”A couple of gal pals meet and we put on wet suits (water temp is low 60’s at the moment) and swim for an hour or two. Surrounded by the massive red rocks that Georgia O’Keefe loved, painted and lived among for many years, it is such a privilege. It’s not taken for granted.
Try this…
New site additions: Gardens and Humans…Four Strong Women