Lakeside Mother Earth Love

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.

~John Muir~

Yesterday was a Gloriously and Fantastically Beautiful, Sunny day. As it was also Earth Day, I decided to jump in my car, wind my way past the rows of awakening vineyards, their bright green growth bursting forth in new life across the valley, and head up to the lake. While I never need a celebratory ‘day’ to remind me to get out into nature to appreciate Mother Earth in Her splendor, I enJoy taking part in collective consciousness energy, and I knew that I would be among many honouring this Amazing place which is our home and reflecting upon the issues facing it.

We should not only maintain gentle, peaceful relations with our fellow human beings, but also that is very important to extend the same kind of attitude toward the natural environment.

~Dalai Lama~

I Love to spend time by the water, admiring the way the sweeping mountains rise to surround the area with a quiet solitude, shutting out the city World around it, enveloping one in a reverenced protective Beauty. The day was an invitation to play outdoors, which had brought quite a few people up by the big bridge which crosses Lake Sonoma. My desire for quiet meditation time alone free of cell phones (*ahem*) sent me upon new paths to explore.

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.

~Frank Lloyd Wright~

Delighted to find fields of green grasses and happy purple clover covering the mountainside, I Joyously kicked off my shoes and wandered about them, minding the productive bees at work. Incidentally, I began eating local clover honey recently in attempts to help with my Spring allergies, and have found it to help a great deal. I set a blanket down to lie in the grasses, warm Sunshine adding new freckles to my skin, admiring the bees at work in Gratitude. They’re a very special component to our eco-system and need extra Love, appreciation and protection right now.

The poetry of the earth is never dead.

~John Keats~

Craving a bit more exploratory time, I drove past the wild California Poppies and Lupin, their vivid colours on dazzling display across the hillsides. Above Lake Sonoma I had an even better view of its journey which extends through 9 miles of Dry Creek and 4 miles across Warm Creek. I watched the vultures drifting upon the breezes, admiring the way they soared across the sky and down to the waters edge below. Granted, this lake was not actually built by Mother Nature, but was instead dammed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and is appreciated as a place to canoe, boat, water ski, fish, hike, camp and play. The Visitors Center and Fish Hatchery at its base provides information about the area and the Native American Pomo tribes who resided in the area years ago. I like to sit upon the hillsides and meditate by the water.

In wilderness is the preservation of the world.

~Henry David Thoreau~

With ventures out into the Awe~some nature which surrounds me, I consciously live Earth Day every day. Being able to remind oneself of this living, breathing Earth beneath us, bearing witness to Her rebirth at this Gorgoeus Springtime, reminds that we are the stewards of this Planet. We have caused a great deal of harm to the flow and harmony of our home, which brought about the need for Earth Day. Now through our awareness, ingenuity, diligence, and new seeds planted, we can find our way back into balance again. By admiring the Glorious Beauty which surrounds us and listening closely, we can share in Her wisdom. It’s through new paths taken that one opens to new views. What new roads can you explore, Dear Reader?

Love and Blessings,
Antonia