Dear Friend,
Last night, I walked outside with Ruby under the tulip trees. The leaves and twigs swirled above us in the gentle breeze, rustling and waving as if to get our attention. I stopped and felt the wind brush my cheeks. It was a perfect night. 77 degrees (25 C) with the sun lowering in clear skies. Soft.
Have you ever noticed a breeze and been stopped in your tracks, as if someone is calling you to be still and listen? To just wait and feel?
“Stop and smell the flowers” is always prompted with a noticing. A pink thing on your left is beckoning you to come, to put your nose in it and breathe in its fragrant offering.
A musician playing a guitar on the street is metaphorically nudging something deep inside you. Come and listen!
A collection of leaves is exuberantly waving you down. Hey! Look, listen, and feel!
You see it. You can ignore it and walk by. Or you can heed the beckoning and receive the gift.
As Ruby and I stood under the trees, my body impulsively responded with a deep inhale and exhale where you become aware of all of your senses. Something in me tenderizes and I feel more alive.
I lean over and put my arms around Ruby’s neck, reminding her how much I love her. Her beautiful soul and happy wagging tail make me laugh.
I received the gift.
It was just a moment. But a joyful one I am grateful for.
A doe and her two fawns visited me on a recent walk at the “Tree Farm” at Lakeshore Park. My favorite trail there, where wonderful, narrow bike trails wind through a majestic old plantation of Norway spruces.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…”
Henry David Thoreau
Changing Seasons
The roar of summer with its travels and heat is quieting into September here in Michigan. How is it where you are?
Something opens up ahead of us as the air cools. Space opens for creating, for shifting, for the “new.” I love this transition.
I see fresh messages popping into my inbox from my writerly friends from Substack and other blog spaces. I feel excitement as I watch kids crossing streets with new backpacks and fresh outfits. I hear the strains of the marching band practicing for this Friday’s football game.
Do you feel excitement as you pass by maple trees changing from green to gold and red?
My friend Clare expressed anxiety over summer’s end. She feels dread about the cold weather ahead because her tiny frame struggles to stay warm through Michigan’s cold seasons. A man I was in a relationship with for several years felt his heart sink with the coming of autumn, as depression set in for him during Tennessee’s winter months. Though the fall brought such beauty and temperate weather, it signaled the end of seasons that fueled him, triggering angst over the battle he knew he’d face as the days shortened.
How is it for you? What kinds of feelings and thoughts does the change bring for you? I’d love to know your thoughts and you can comment here:
I do care about you and where you are on your journey. Whether you are in a season of reprieve or a season of intensity, I’m here for it. We can offer such support to one another by connecting. Even just in the comments. I love to see one person’s note followed by the thoughtful interaction of another reader’s response. Such small efforts are indeed huge, because they make us feel a part of something. Not alone in the world.
I have started posting in Substack’s Chat and Notes sections. I would love to connect with you, even in small ways with a “like” or a ♡. In these sections, I usually just post a photo from my day-to-day, often nature finds. With a thought or two. Or I restack another writer’s thoughtful post.
I would also love if you might share Excerpts from Wonderworld with a friend or on your socials.
Responding to the Beckoning
Excerpts from Wonderworld is my response to Mother Nature’s many calls to me for attention. There are beckoning 👋🏻 waves from agents of beauty and healing all around me. I know you feel them too—though perhaps your ear has been dulled by the busyness of trying to just survive in these difficult times? Survival mode can do that.
Let the breeze in the leaves above you trigger a response from your senses. Just stopping for a moment and feeling can drop you into your body and give you a little taste of joy.
Or tenderness.
As I always say, Wonderworld is around you. Don’t miss the whispers offering you a reprieve.
Let the kiss of a warm breeze on your cheek be your prompt.
Don’t miss it!
Sending you loads of love,
Linda
and Ruby
As always, so beautiful and lovingly written, Linda.
Thank you for your words, they're really something, making me think and feel.
Tomorrow is October 1st, my favorite month..
I always loved the changing seasons and being outdoors enjoying every chance I get.
I always lusted for life and I can always spot a kindred spirit.
Thank you again,
Chris