Let's visit Summerhawk Valley as the first stirrings of Spring boldly emerge.... it is sunrise....

an Intimate Portrait of Summerhawk Awakening in Spring

  

 

   
 
I stand to give thanks for this extraordinary morning, and the so many blessings that are given to us every day. And I give thanks for our responsibilities to care for this sacred place and all life upon it. In early April, we signed a lease with EnCana allowing them to extract the minerals beneath this beautiful land. While we pray the reach of their activities remains beyond the boundaries of the life that depends upon this land to survive, today we are grateful for the no-surface use provision we negotiated as a part of the lease. For as long as the gas lasts, industry will not set foot upon nor pillage this land - at least not from its surface. Today we celebrate the sovereignty of this mountain, and the spirits of the ancients sing. 		 

 

   

 
 


Sometimes there is no better balm for the spirit than to touch the Earth with our bare skin. To connect as a creature of the soil we trod, like the deer and elk and beaver. Before we learned how to make tennis shoes and bowling shoes and ballet shoes, we stepped with a consciousness that only one in direct contact with our Earth could know. From our awareness of vulnerability we were made more careful, more alert, more in tune. If you ever forget what it means to be real. Step out of what bars you from your deeper connection, and wherever you are, stop your task, find the Earth and, with the life force of our vital planet coursing through your being, yield your vulnerability to her - and wiggle your toes in the moving water... step lightly in the cool grass. Awaken your sense of life and belonging with the awakening spirit - the enduring and nurturing spirit of our precious Earth. She will cradle you if you let her.

  

Cattails spring from the boggy banks of the old beaver pond, casting a beautiful reflection in the muddy waters of Divide Creek. These bogs host the nests of redwing blackbirds who trill in delight, every dawn and dusk at this season of renewal. Their song lifts my spirit high and fast, caught in their flight of fancy before I can even comprehend what joyful thing has captivated my spirit.

 

 

 

 

  

 

     
 

This craggy point overlooks the burial ground of those who have lived in this valley before us. I have hiked to just beneath its pinnacle. It is a place of unspeakable power. Of course, I feel the same about many such places on this mountain.

  


After a long and quiet winter, new life peeks beneath the leaf litter of last fall. Life will always find expression. Such passion, some think, is only the possession of the artistic, the intellectual, the calculating being. But it is the vital force of all life which seeks and will find a place to thrive. It is that common desire that links us. It is the questing being which will become.

 

 

   

   
         
   


Mountain passes rise up to meet the sky as we look Northward. European explorers, accustomed to valuing land for its ability to yield bounty to the plow beneath their hands, saw this land as a barren waste. That mentality pervades today as many seek the bounty of minerals, grazing or recreation from its thinly clad slopes. I see so much more. In the preservation of these remarkable mountains and valleys, in the sweeping protection of our rivers and streams, I see a phenomenal ecosystem in miraculous and precarious balance. For as long as it lasts, its true bounty has never more shone before us - yet it remains invisible to almost everyone.
 

    

 

     
 
A rustling tapestry of curled oak leaves creates a thicket of autumn splendor, as a new oak forest forms a new boundary around the meadows of Summerhawk valley.		  
A late Spring snow storm reminds us that life, like the seasons that turn it round, can change in an instant. This lacy architecture bears tiny buds, holding their collective breaths on every bowed branch.		  

 

   

   
         
   


Soft Spring grass waits patiently for this temporary cloak of snow to wither beneath the sun.  Such snows are important to the health of this valley. A runoff which occurs too soon creates floods and sheets across the rocky soils that cling tentatively to steep slopes. This winter brought the gift of many slow-melting snows, and Spring has offered a light-handed scattering of frozen water which settles and melts into the soils, to be drank by the trees, grass and bushes. A week ago I was shown a vision. A luminous hand held out to me a perfectly round sphere of water - clear, reflecting the fluid, moving shape of our continents and the beautiful blue sky. It was like a dew drop, but nearly a third the size of the hand. It was as if I were being presented with the gift of water, life-giving water. But, it was not only for me. The gift is for us all, I was simply able to see it, so I was shown it. I hold this vision and the gift I am reminded of in my heart. It humbles and strengthens me. Our existence is so fragile, the sustenance of it so utterly precious. And generous. We mustn't forsake it.
 

    

 

     
 


Ol' riverdog pops out to say 'hi' as I was filming the pond. A friendly and curious sort, this frisky otter says - "Hey, what's up? Let's play!!" If the water wasn't so cold I'd jump right in....
 

See more of our riverdog by clicking here....

 

  


Beaver swims out to say 'hi' too. The pond is busy with critters doing their thing this week. What a joyful blessing to have them stop by to talk a little beaver and otter to me. You know, critters say a lot, and if your heart is open - if you love them and respect them and allow them their place with you, they are very often happy to share. I love critter conversations. Love them.

  

 

 

Great Spirit, please protect these waters and all life that depends upon it. Shield it from the ignorance, greed and harm of those, including myself, who knowingly or unknowingly transgress upon its purity and life-giving gift. Thank you for allowing me the extraordinary gift of asking for this sacred blessing. Please help me to be deserving when I ask for your benevolent protections. I am nothing more than a vessel, a sprung leaf in the middle seasons of my time. In the short time that I may walk upon this lovely Earth, please help me to fulfill my greatest purpose and appreciate truly the harmony I have been shown and entrusted with.

 

 

   

   
   


Run-off has begun on Divide Creek, but the cold temperatures in the high country have managed the flow. It is possible that our beloved beaver dam will wash out with the spring thaw, but perhaps the melt will remain even. With feet upon feet and thirty-plus new inches at the higher elevations in the weekend since I took these photos, if it warms suddenly, this landscape will suddenly change. We will have to wait and see what natures rhythms have in store for us as we move through the seasons with her. For now, we are privileged to witness this slow shift in her gentle surge forward.

    

 

 

Updates      Stand Tall       Beacons and Triumphs       Image Gallery      Home

  

 

 

All contents of this site, unless otherwise noted are copyrighted by Lisa Bracken, 2007-2008. All rights are reserved.
Visit links outside the scope of this website at your own risk. All information is subject to change without notice.