In Keene Valley we drove up to
a parking area for hikers known as "The Garden" and along the
trail that eventually gets to Mount Marcy is a cut off for the south
trail. This path leads one along Johns Brook which comes down off
Marcy and empties into the Au Sable River in the
hamlet of Keene Valley.
The forest in early November is laid bare, the trees stand naked, ready to take on the winter. Their bark glistens in the first rays of a new day. It warms them and they feel the life giving energy of the sun on their bark. The atmosphere is serene and the forest
has a fragrance of crisp leaves that
blanket the landscape for as far as you can see in each direction.
Then among the conifers the floor of the forest is covered with a soft
bed of pine needles. So often we are already into the next room when we reach for the door knob that we never bring the realization that we are entering another room into our consciousness. Another room full of new opportunities and
that is what every day should be. We surrender to the
possibilities and lay open our hearts to what this forest has in store
for us. Long shadows bend and twist along the floor rise and fall along with dried leaves always running away from trees, which rise into the blue sky above. There are some old trees here some of the biggest I've seen in the Adirondacks. Several hundred years I'm sure. Hundreds of years of life right here and all around us, we stop and marvel at their magnificence. We stop and feel the wisdom of the ages in these ancient beings, it's like being in a room full of learned souls willing to share their knowledge with us if only we will listen. We move slow, mindfully absorbing and staying open to this community of trees.
Golden light illuminates the rocks under the water and in turn sends out wonderful reflecting images over the rest of the world. We meander along the brook over it's rocks and into it's woods and we find a place where pile upon pile of rocks have built up. The rocks are sorted by size and pieces of driftwood are scattered about, like ancient bones.
I truly marvel at their beauty and their power to withstand the ages as they have done. The Trees, The Water, The Rocks all offer themselves to us, so we take. I pry loose several stones I will take with me into my winter season. I look forward to placing them on my studio table where I will perhaps draw them, watch them but mostly listen to them. |
Life can be like opening a brand new door
every single day if you are mindful that you are opening the door.
We
reach Johns Brook and the sound of water, trickling, tossing and
laughing it's way along.
I
reach down to pick up a rock and it doesn't move. It's frosted
into the ground already. It's all set for it's winter. Frost
sparkles on the sun drenched rocks and I rub my hands over them, I hear
Sue exclaim, "It's like being in a gem
mine, I want to put them in my mouth".