Boat Dreams Come With Responsibility

Boat Dreams Come With Responsibility

Winter is confused this year, with temperatures bouncing from the mid-sixties to minus degrees. We have come to expect some variation but this season has been extreme and we’re not even halfway through. The confusion is justified. The seasons are determined by the earth’s rotational axis as it travels around the sun in an elliptical path. Each season has its own character in regard to precipitation, temperature, wind, the amount of daylight. All of this affects our activities.

But our seasons are experiencing change because our climate is changing. New patterns of drought, flooding, cold, and heat are affecting our earth, which in turn affects us all. We have experienced stronger storms in the past few years, with unanticipated outcomes. Our crops are dependent on stable local climates; too much variation can lead to crop failure. There are things we can do to slow it down, if we have the will. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/ 

Perhaps we can call up the will through our memories and daydreams. This boat, sitting swaddled by the bare trees, hints at warmer days, beach weather, fishing, and adventures on the water. The garden catalogues that arrive in the mail speak to us of new growth, of vibrant spring colors and gardens filled with ripening vegetables waiting for the right time to be picked.

And while we’re daydreaming, let’s remember to appreciate the season we’re in. Let’s enjoy that welcoming cup of hot chocolate or jasmine tea as we come in from the cold. Let’s savor the beauty of the snow when it drizzles down from the sky – shoveling comes later. And let’s allow ourselves to luxuriate in the embrace of our dreams.  But let us not forget that our daydreams come with responsibility. There is work to be done if we want to help the earth be the kind of place we remember and cherish.

Characteristics of the seasons:

http://weather-facts.com/seasons-facts.php

The science behind the seasons:

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/time/seasons.html

How does climate change?:

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/whatis.htm

Rainbow Meditation

Rainbow Meditation

Rainbows have always fascinated us for a variety of reasons. They appear (excuse me) out of the blue. Their beauty is astounding. They combine the physical world with the metaphysical.

There is science behind the rainbow, to be sure. Here are the facts from the Franklin Institute: http://www.fi.edu/color/rainbow.html . But I don’t think facts will negate the ethereal quality a rainbow has over us. A rainbow shifts us out of our ordinary lives for the moment it takes to register in our minds. Little backyard rainbows (like the one in this photo) or great expansive ones like those seen in Hawaii all have the power to make us stop in our tracks and pay attention. We tend to halt what we are doing, where we are going, what we are saying when we see one.

We have a long history with rainbows, in myth and imagination, stories and symbolism. Joseph Panek looks at these connections on his blog http://www.aseekersthoughts.com/2012/03/rainbow-as-symbol.html

But there is more to a rainbow than either fact or belief. A rainbow causes people to dream. Somewhere beyond the rainbow is our ideal self, the success we desire, the love we cherish. It is there, our individual pot of gold, if only we can find it. Perhaps if we keep the image of the rainbow vibrant within us then possibility will always exist and the dreams that keep us energized will guide us through the days when rainbows are hidden by the clouds.

A free tutorial from Ian Plant on how to photograph a rainbow – and some amazing illustrations: http://www.ianplant.com/articles-photographing-rainbows.htm