WLT Anderson Preserve Talks Back…

As I have been studying and immersing myself into the Land Trust Preserves, I have taken a particular liking to the Flora Whitely Preserve, as well as the Anderson Preserve. Both in close proximity, they share ecosystems and residents. Today a humble neighbor who dwells in between the two was kind enough to offer insights and materials to aid my research over the course of the year ahead. Anderson’s trailhead is not obvious to the first-time visitor, and even I entered the preserve with out a path to guide me. In doing so, I have been exposed to unique experiences each day. This morning I entered just after dawn to discover who was stirring at such an hour. With a sharp eye, I sought subtle movements from the treetops of great oaks in search of the infamous Barred Owl. At their bases I tried to locate remnants of their most recent meals. In my experience, I have found Cardinals to be their first choice, though there has been some debate in other studies if their cardinal kills are to aid in the silence of the dawn so that the Barred Owls might personally and covertly choose their food source in each environment. A doe and two fawns bounded across a dried up creek bed, twitching their ears at me.

Deer tracks and scuffs led me to the water’s edge, where my day plan awaited. I’ve spent a few early mornings quietly under the canopy but had yet to explore the riverbank. As quiet as I could be, I managed to alert a family of catbirds, whom quickly called loudly in advisement. I was sure to remember the initial chirping as to avoid future entanglement. The shore was clay and sand. Visibility initially clear, then dipping into a dark decline. Thoughts of mud dwellers and carnivorous turtles passed through my mind, but I know that snappers are more likely to flee than tastetest. An osprey soared overhead, and a great blue heron stalked in a one-legged stance. Right away, a bluegill sunfish took notice to my presence, but remained in its place as I slipped by making as few ripples as possible. The riverbank is home to many species. A healthy dose of freshwater mussels scattered through the sand like mines. I used subtlety in their discovery, softness in my hands as they made contact as to not disrupt their environment. Sun turtles remained on the log as I floated past. Alcoves in the bank attracted my attention as potential dens. Sandy floors enable me to spot for tracks. Raccoon tracks were visible in the ares still attached to the strip of clay beach. As I moved into deeper water, I began to find new tracks… those of River Otter. Immediately I reverberated my excitement. The tracks were fresh, and sizable. Otters are my spirit animals, according to local Native Americans. agree I do as I have always resonated with them. After taking a closer look at a set of tracks, I turned slowly to move away from the bank, only to find myself alongside an otter, his (maybe “her”) slick coat glimmering. It peered at me, seemingly inquisitively, possibly just as surprised as I. Dipping with grace it reversed its direction and swam beyond the middle island. I look forward to making my presence more consistent in hopes of gaining its trust. Surely there are more than one, especially considering the tracks. On my swim back I took notice of cardinal feathers in the water. Sure enough, a great oak loomed overhead. There will be many more adventures to be had, and the seasons will expose the intimate lives of all who dwell in these woods. Change is continuous, birth to death, Nature’s cycles directly reflect our own lives. I can only hope to continue to be graced by the wisdom of great experiences such as these in my immersion into Westerly’s Land Trust Preserves.

PCB: Transition- An Intro

Personal Circle Bagua philosophy is based upon an ongoing requirement by the natural and social worlds to adapt to change. All life flows within the seasons. A capacity within us to embrace change is often overwhelmed by a facility to repress and control. This desire is an illusion born of our creation, or our physical ability to manipulate our immediate environments.

Through the coordination of “the Sacred Three”, (structure, breath and intention- as described in Presence: A Bagua Path to Fulfillment) we have begun to discover our potential as discerning beings. Since primal dichotomies exist, we are constantly balancing, in and out of awareness. It is not an easy task to accept a life of continuous change and no genuine control over the “ten-thousand things”. Even within Presence there is change. It is as if to be uprooted by the wind and returned seemingly at random. Since integration is necessary for embodiment, the Journey to and from Presence must be experienced with awareness. In motion, past, present or future, it is embraced as transition, a cyclic pattern moving to or from a degree of Presence. The holding pattern is a trend within the cycle of transition, and as all trends, will end. Acceptance of this process promotes embodiment and a greater awareness of self can be conceived. In balance with their environment, the student can discover fulfillment.

The human body is our direct link to the genuine experience of life. Through its perceptive tools and environmental connection, we may share the primal dialogue. Holding static postures teaches us to open up ourselves to the conversations so that when in motion, it remains an open connection. If all that we hear is the ego whilst standing still, then our movements will be driven by ego, without consideration. Therein a quest towards Presence will crest in detachment and loss as opposed to integration. A desired transition should be one that is aware of the greater good, remaining selfless in the embodiment of genuine values and primal love.

Taking the First Step into New Environments

Given that changing our environments may be our only true “power”, a single step can become the start of a Journey. All environments are unique, therefore in the interest of a genuine experience, we should remain humbled. It is uncertain whether the dichotomy favors our projection to change environments or the environment’s call for change in each transition in life. So we embrace the unknown and its potential wisdom. Each time we enter a new environment we are provided with the opportunity to refine our awareness and listening skills. We will change environments in life as many times as it is necessary to develop the skills and subtlety needed to embody a genuine sense of internal and external balance, or equilibrium. Making peace with all these potential constants makes it easier and more meaningful (fulfilling) to embrace change. Minimizing active projection and judgment, we re-invent ourselves to coax an evolution into the primal values we resonate with the deepest, defining ourselves in a time of change. In a single moment of transition, we are establishing an awareness of who we are and who we want to be. To desire openness, awareness, we invite Nature to be our teacher.

Seeking Acceptance Amongst the Lands

Over the course of the past nine days, it has been my honor to set foot upon the preserve lands, some for the very first time. In the downtown, I have asked many residents about their frequency of visitation to these properties which have been maintained and made public by the Westerly land Trust. I would find only confusion and some degree of surprise. From one resident I heard, “I have lived here for 30 years. I have never once heard of a Town Forest.” What keeps people so distracted that they are unaware of 100′s of acres of accessible woodlands and multi-ecological preserves in short distance from our homes? I think we each know the answer… Education, however, may incite intrigue into the opportunities available to connect with Nature.

In nine days I introduced myself to Grills Preserve, Avondale Farm Preserve, Wildwood Preserve, Flora Whitely Preserve, Glacier Park Preserve, Riverwood Preserve, Mastuxet Brook Greenway, and Crandall Swamp. As any introduction should be, I opened myself up to them to embrace their beauty unimpeded. The camera remained housed, as to not seek boxed experiences in a circularly flowing environment. It is difficult, as every new meeting reveals expectation. I surely projected my excitement upon each, and the flora and fauna responded accordingly with different levels of appearance and disappearance. It will take time in each to begin to be exposed to the subtleties. Even as Nature spoke, I was only ready to hear what I was looking to hear… My next visits shall be quieter ones. Tomorrow I return to Grills for deeper immersion.

WLT Land Preserves Study-Immersion Begins…

While the book, preliminarily entitled “Environmental Connection” will reference all the current and accessible preserve lands, I will be focusing on the distinctly hike-worthy properties: Grills Preserve, Glacier Preserve, Mastuxet Brook Greenway, Avondale Farm Preserve, Riverwood Preserve, Flora Whitley Preserve, Crandall Swamp, and Wildwood. In what hopes to be close to daily observation, I look forward to immersing myself into their ecosystems to achieve unique perspectives. Four seasons of integration… should be exciting! The blog will be rolling with daily encounters. Monday will be the first day with a visit to Grills. See you all then!

EC: Environmental Relationship- An Intro

A relationship with nature is without control or divisibility. Our species often forgets that we are simply that: a species. Among the flora and fauna, we play our roles within a primal, balanced system beyond our intelligent comprehension. Integration is inevitable, even if we are unsettled by the results. The relationship is a degree of awareness towards the “primal” in one’s environment. Our deepest inner wisdom has already discerned a tendency towards a genuine embrace of the inevitable natural reference, or a repulsion from it. How well we know ourselves through experience determines how aware we are of the root of primal reaction (ex. fight/flight). It is a projection to be categorized by that which is “in our nature”. We are attracted to the extremes of patterns and cycles that make us. The primal relationships in “nature” outside our immediate environments illustrate materialized reference points for creation, destruction, the beginning and end of all earthly processes.

Formal Commencement of Research and Writing: “Environmental Connection”

After some ironing out of details today, I’ve formally decided to begin working on my next project. Temporarily titled “Environmental Connection”, this body of work will consist of field notes, both scientific and philosophical, born of personal case studies of the Westerly Land Trust Preserves. Over the course of a year, I will immerse myself into my local environment, the varied ecosystems that have been acquired for educational enjoyment and preservation in Westerly, Rhode Island. Utilizing my continued studies into Native American cultural philosophy and outdoor awareness, I will document, illustrate and teach the varied ways residents and visitors can experience ”our” local environment. I plan to keep this blog going daily to chronicle this personal Journey. I hope you will all enjoy the process and this window into the production of such a project.

Meanwhile, the promotion and teaching of “Presence” continues. Dates are being set for seminars and classes locally and afar, and a few more trips through the Summer and Fall. The Journey continues… Thank you all for your support and encouragement!

Ink to the Paper…

As I have settled back in to the quaint and historic downtown of Westerly Rhode Island, the pen begins to shift. Back and forth from the written word to the sketching whim, new projects (pre-determined by the will of my past) come to the surface and begin to define themselves. The second book that I have slated, temporarily titled “Environmental Connection”, is only one of 4 conceptual works in my mind. My return has also sealed into place my involvement in the production of a local short film (based on a grim childhood script idea I had once conceptualized.) Both of these projects will have me drawing again. Localized flora and fauna will become the subjects of my inquiry and muse. Pondering on the potential of these things, I found myself inking the alien footbed of our own nocturnally arboreal opossum. I am playing with different sketching styles to determine how I might consistently develop all the illustrations for the book. In this case, a cross between my old shading methods and some pointillism… I like it, though I may still go with my pastels, as it seems that I am able to relax into the method more and breathe more life into the animals themselves. The otter to the right is still one of my favorites…it would be fun to draw all my creatures with such personality. I suppose we shall see how it all goes. It is nice to go back to more of the scientific illustration techniques that I had used much more prominently in past paleontology endeavors. Which reminds me, I now have time to attempt a submission for that Science magazine contest, due in September… (had I been traveling as previously planned, I would have missed).

Travel plans are coming back together, piecemeal, but looking better than before. As I devise the schedule I will post it up to be followed. Funding dependent, I hope to make most of my southwest destinations before autumn. Shasta still calls, and will make an educational visit to my student’s retreat center in Arizona… Hopefully I won’t have to ship the bike out there apart from my self. So, please stay tuned. I enjoy having you all listening in. The Journey continues…

An Early Morning of Native Wisdom

I took a bike ride in the early hours of the morning down to my sacred space Lantern Hill on the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation to meet one of my oldest Native American friends/mentor Timid Hawk. It had been almost ten years since I had seen her, though to see her was as if it was only yesterday. Tumultuous has been her life as of late, but she exuded her usual contentment and grin. Timing is everything, and she has always reminded me of that. Today she is 53, and she toted along her life drum to reverberate some wholesome beats into the morning air. “The vultures adore it” she would persist. I have come to the top of the hill on many occasions and seen the black dozen make for the edge and disappear beneath the line of sight only to re-emerge in synchronized flight, catching hold of the wind’s tethers. I have experienced their close proximity during meditation, observing their little heads tilting in recognition towards me. I have never thought about attracting their presence. Timid Hawk would ring out the deep tone of her octagonal hide in a reflective rhythm. I would find her dissolving into the vibration during each beat, with plenty of time between to return. Her wisdom never strays from the constant dialogue with her environment, as the vultures would speak to her. As well as the wind, and the movement of the trees below. The silica beneath our roost. Lantern Hill, once a prominent quartzite mine, has long been regarded by the Pequots as the Eastern scepter to the stars. The dense content of quartz in the hill emulates a great mineral energy through which the Pequots have believed they can communicate with the heavens, and then to the corners of the land (Mt. Shasta California being the Western point). She would present her wisdom to me through these elements as if they were talking directly to me. It is an intuitive process, naturally and socially balanced. sometimes I forget that I have been  gifted with that intuitive dialogue, on occasion and to an effective degree. She always tries to remind me of this ability, which in her opinion she believes is what will justify why I am the one walking this path, not others, seeking this particular knowledge and wisdom. The vultures soon came, as they always do… peering, gliding upon the currents, making frequent passes in observation. ‘Wuyi’, she would reference the vulture, ‘sorts the parts, assists the changes in life, and embraces death as transition.’ The black feather falls like an anvil from the sky and we remember where we come from, and where we will return, and we do what is necessary as to not turn a blind eye from the inevitable, even if it leaves us disfigured.

We parted ways in hopes of another meeting again someday very soon… Today I integrate the Journey’s changes and make moves to continue forward with its initiatives. It is nice to have the Sun back. Timing is everything. Sometimes it takes a Return to move forward yet again. Peace, Love and Presence…

Home is Where the Heart Is…

I always find myself questioning… Where is Home? The longer one stays in one place, the more a place can feel like home. Though, as we all know from experience, give any relationship time and it feels more of a part of us then we could ever have imagined. Growing up in southeastern Connecticut, (Algonquin for “long river”), my backyard off the Thames (once denoted as the Pequot River) was the original Pequot reservation land. It does not surprise me at this time that I would find myself seeking the essence of that culture in my personal studies. My environment is as small or as large as it needs to be to keep a resonating balance in my life. I embrace that thought when I consider traveling and keeping loved ones close.

Any place one considers to be Home is likely the environment with the most genuine relationship. The Natural and Social balance of life requires us to experience a sense of peace between the two in order to interpret from the heart whether or not an environment truly resonates with us. Home provides equilibrium of internal balance, external balance and experiential balance through intentional interaction. All three scenarios are primal relationships that test our awareness of our place in time. A lack of balance in any relationship scenario leaves room for spontaneous projection, to which we react in reflection through disconnected action. Projection serves a purpose in an environment of experiential relationship, since what we create is out of the fulfillment of the environment’s call, whether we are aware or not. When we project very little, we find we are content in our environments, comfortable and unaffected by extreme change. Our environment only has the same emotional connection we feel for ourselves and our immediate relationships when all is in balance. Then, it is possible to share, and be aware of, moments of Presence within all three relationships simultaneously… now that’s a thought… In turn, Home can be anywhere you are, how at peace with yourself you are, or anywhere Love is. The Home that matters is the union of all three, the most genuine resonance, and we seek that balance our entire lives. The outcome is also an embodied experience of Presence.

As I delve deeper into the Native American culture, I only find resonance. Fulfillment is opening my heart to love in all its forms, from a much more genuine place than it ever has. I am honored to be sharing this with you all as I reveal to myself that which I have been searching for… Tomorrow I am humbled to have an opportunity to be graced by one of the first Native Americans that helped me solidify this path almost 10 years ago. She will undoubtedly inspire with her rich wisdom. Until tomorrow…