Last night we had horrific rains here in our Hamlet of Hamburg, NJ. It was a storm like I remember from childhood - trees bending like yoga masters, rains hard and gray - sideways at times. Not as much lightening as the last one but enough to keep you humble. I remember we had a screened in porch at my dads. It was a summer home that had been converted to a year round residence when we made the jump from Brooklyn to' the country'. This porch was up high, almost perched in the trees. We would sit on this old red porch furniture with yellow and green cushions and watch the summer storms roll in. My mother was chronically sick and we were broke, broke, broke. I never knew that until I was almost an adult. I thought every daughter passed the time with her dad watching the storms, counting the seconds/mileage between the lightening and thunder. Well fast forward about 35 years and yesterday was the same storm, an old friend come to visit.
It was around 5pm when it subsided and my 13 year old son Michael (whom is as raw as nature himself) surfaced from a video game and said he was going to go for a walk. I was putting on my shoes and going to ask him the same. We smiled that 'Yes!" and off we went.
We have a 3 mile loop outside of our developement (townhomes) and it's old school Hamburg. The homes are the same ones from when I was a kid, the lay of the land the same, the roads all intact - nothing has been moved. If you squint hard enough you can block out the only addition from the last 25 or so years which would be high tension wires. The center of the loop, which is a large island of fertile ground, seems to be a series of feed fields and meadows all interconnected by these chambers of trees and bramble that arch like doorways to one another. Many times I wonder what would happen if I let the urge overtake me to get off the road and just walk right into that world like a CS Lewis character - Would I find myself or lose myself - sometimes both seem a wonderful and mighty option...
So here we are, mom and her 13 year old son (the very fact that this is totally normal to him, even cool, fills me with gratitude on a daily basis - Thank you God!). Everything was so still. So very cosmically lush and green so much so that the leaves of high summer seemed surreal and bigger than normal. The dripping darkness leading into the forest took on an otherworldly obscure vibe. We were witnessing the medicine of the Universe. The dust had been stormed away from the foliage and the thirsty plants were now drunk on rain and nectar
We rounded to a goat pad and emu - it's got no business being there (not in a bad way mind you) it's detached from everything and just placed in this spot, There are two trailers used as shelters left open and we could hear the goats shuffling around - not sure if this storm was at its end.
We walked on talking admiring the yard vegetable gardens we came across. My heart is happy at the resurgence of these 'Victory' type gardens. It goes on my mental checklist of humanity, reassures me that in small ways we are moving in the right direction. It also makes me long for my own dirt to work. Fuel the fire, go ahead, I know intention moves mountains and I will have my dirt one day!
We came to the great bend in the road where a babbling run of water from an old time snow melt makes it's way under ground and across the street. This water seems to feed the center land of our loop.
Down further we walk very slow. Horse boarding. AKA Dream like moments. Stuff of fairy tales. Horses on both sides of the road, Majestic. The bow their heads and graze. Brown, Black, Spotted. You can walk right up to the fence and there they are chewing and peaceful. My son and I pointed them out to one another marveling at their beauty. On the left is a small barn with Mules and miniature horses. Beyond the fence a scant amount of cattle and 2 horned bulls. They regarded us with a glance only and continued their damp feast.
Everywhere there was a dip in the land one could find a water source. This appealed to my Aquarian nature: Water to me is Moveable Life. My son turned to me, gestured grandly at all we surveyed and said, "This is just the way it's supposed to be, isn't it?" But he already knew the answer in his heart.
If I could've bottled that moment, that smell, that dampness, those views - I could have cured so many people of unhappiness, of mistrust, of lost faith.... I urge you to walk after the rain, open your eyes and your heart. Find these Places of Wellness, they are there if you only look. Good Energy to You.
