Summer landscape

When we moved out to the countryside on June 20th 8 years ago, the significance of Summer Solstice had only vague meaning to me. Since embracing a more spiritual path it has a myriad meanings to my heart.  This year my Solstice celebrations were a little muted due to the unfortunate timing of some surgery, but never the less I was very aware of the many blessings brought to my Summer landscape at this mid point in the year.

We are very lucky to have a bridle path literally on our doorstep which meanders for a mile across open fields.  It's a safe place to walk our dogs off the lead & we walk that path there & back,morning & evening, every day, almost without fail.  The landscape is stunning.  To the left the beautiful Malvern Hills dominate the horizon.  The Hills never look the same twice, no matter how many times we walk the path.  Some days the sun shines so brightly on them you can pick out incredible detail on the hillsides.  Some days fog rolls in & the Hills disappear altogether. Every evening you know that if conditions are right you will be met with the most stunning sunsets, sometimes bringing fire & passion to your soul, sometimes bringing incredible peace to your heart.

In the last couple of years the farmer has adopted an organic approach to farming.  It has really had a positive affect on the wildlife this year.  We have seen a far greater variety of butterflies, birds, insects, flowers & bees.  At this mid point of the year the landscape, fueled by the Sun's energies, is a virile tangle of tall seeded grasses, foliage & wild flowers.  The air is alive with the humming of busy bees, chirruping crickets & bird song.  If you breathe deep down into your lungs you can smell the lushness of the grass, the perfume of the flowers, the dustiness of hot days & the freshness of rainy days.  If you look, really look, your eyes are met with so many treasures - new tree saplings, wild flowers hidden away in the grass, tiny beetles scurrying here & there & tell tale signs of mammal activity, like badger tracks & fox fur caught in bramble branches.

The landscape is burgeoning with vitality, & if you tune into it the energies are powerfully uplifting & invigorating.  Just by kicking off my shoes & walking the path barefoot, ruffling the grass with my hands, tracing the curve of a petal with my fingertips or stepping into the shade of a tree to lean against it's bark I  become more deeply connected to the landscape.  My heart swells with joy at seeing the deeper harmony around me brought by the farmer's organic farming methods.  The wholesomeness of it all filters into every pore of my being & it brings a powerful desire to mimic more fully the precious & delicate balances of Nature in my life.  To take more action, however simple, however small to make sure I tread lightly on Mother Earth's surface.

I truly believe that if we all took time to tune into Mother Nature she would breathe the same message into all of our hearts & then maybe, just maybe, the subtle shifts in people's attitudes to their environment that I can see happen all around me will become seismic.

Like this little sapling, we all have the potential within us to root ourselves deeply to the Earth & become mighty oaks