Reeds and Waterbirds

Day 60 - Living by the book.

Found myself today with a fisherman. It was a clear day, the lake like a mirror. His boat was made of reeds, not real sturdy, but functional for the moment.

We were silent for a time, very peaceful place. He pointed into the distance, and whispered, see that? I didn't see it, but I heard it, a bird. I don't know what it was, but the call it made was familiar and I'd know it if I heard it again.

He dipped his fingers in the water, "We are one with this," he said. And I thought about his boat and how fragile and makeshift it was, and it occurred to me that if he was in a well built, a built-to-last boat, a boat of wood and sail, something big and beautiful, he wouldn't be so connected, so as much a part of the water, the reeds, and the water birds. That there was something about living that close and not insulated.. something about how safety and sturdiness insulates us in a way... we set ourselves apart from the living world that surrounds us.

I also felt that the Ceremony I'm doing Sunday can indeed be makeshift and make do, and in the imperfection of it, there will be no barrier to a strong and deep connection to the earth.