Peter Miller submitted this piece about creating an intentional, path for meditation. We recently visited the one he and his family created on their property. It is a beautiful example of how it is possible to honor the sacred needs of both wildlife and human beings in a landscape. - Editors.
Creating a Meditation Trail
By Peter Miller
I recently went through the process of creating a meditation trail with the expert guidance of Michael Gelsanliter. The first thing to do is walk the land to determine what areas you would like to include on your trail. In my case, we decided that even though the property extends behind a few houses, it was better not to create a path that others could enter just by walking through the woods beyond their properties and discovering it.
Look around to see where you might want your trail to go. Do you have a grove of birch trees or hemlocks or old oak trees that you would like your path to meander by or possibly a particular rock outcrop? Look for natural paths before cutting down any trees. Clear away fallen, dead branches and place them in a brush pile for small animals to use for shelter. Just by clearing dead branches, natural paths become easier to identify.
Insert Peter root
There will be times when taking out a small sapling is a necessity. Cut it below the soil level if possible so that you don’t create a stumbling hazard. If possible, it is better to prune back a branch than it is to cut down the entire tree unless it is truly necessary. When pruning a branch, cut it all the way at the tree. You don’t want to leave a spear that could hurt someone if they fell into it. Line the path with dead branches if you don’t have a clear way of marking the trail. Or, as stated earlier, place the branches in piles for small creatures to use as shelter. I’m fortunate in that I live on an area of gravel so there are very few rocks in my woods. I was able to use my lawnmower on its highest setting to first mark the trail and now to keep it clear.
Once the path has been created, walk it several times with lopping and pruning shears. Think of people over six feet tall who you might invite to walk the path with you. Cut back any branches that would be in their way. Line the trail with them or even build faery houses with them later. You don’t want a path where you are constantly brushing back branches or holding them so that they don’t swing into the next person following you. Think of the trails you find in parks. They are very wide and you don’t have to twist and turn to avoid branches.
Try to route your path so that there aren’t any holes where someone could twist an ankle, like around the hole of a fallen tree stump. Fill in the area with dirt and leaves from a mulch pile or fill the hole with branches to prevent someone from going near the spot.
Insert Peter maple rock
Embellish the path with decorative rocks if you happen to have a supply of them on hand. Place tall rocks at the beginning of the path to mark it or build a small cairn. If you use a large rock, you may want to bury the base of it a couple inches below the surface of the soil so that it won’t fall over. Or if the path branches off, place a rock at the fork. Where there are hazard spots, the areas can be lined with rocks to prevent friends from stepping where you don’t want them to walk. Meditation trails are great places to build faery houses. They are fun to make and they add to the scenery.
Once the work is done, walk the path and enjoy.
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Here is a sweet story that was emailed to us by a friend. Unlike many stories circulated on the internet, Snopes.com says this story is indeed true! -Editors.
Lucky Ducks!
Joel Armstrong, a loan officer at Sterling Bank in downtown Spokane, WA had a chance to be a wildlife hero! Several weeks ago he watched a mother duck choose the cement awning outside his second story window which overlooks busy Riverside Avenue, as the uncanny place to build a nest above the sidewalk.
The mallard hen laid ten eggs in a nest in the corner of a planter that is perched over 10 feet in the air. She dutifully kept the eggs warm for weeks and Monday afternoon all of her ten ducklings hatched.
Joel worried all night how the mamma duck was going to get those
babies safely off their perch in a busy, downtown, urban environment to take to water, which typically happens in the first 48 hours of a duckling hatching.
Tuesday morning, Joel came to work and watched the mother duck encourage her babies to the edge of the perch with the intent to show them how to jump off!
The mother flew down below and started quacking to her babies above. In his disbelief Joel watched as the first fuzzy newborn toddled to the edge and astonishingly leapt into thin air, crashing onto the cement below.
Joel couldn't watch how this might play out. He dashed out of his
office and ran down the stairs to the sidewalk where the first obedient duckling was sitting very dazed near its mother. It was trying to recover from the near fatal fall.
Joel looked up. The second duckling was getting ready to jump!
He quickly dodged under the awning while the mother duck quacked at him and the babies above.
As the second one took the plunge, Joel jumped forward and caught it with his bare hands before it hit the cement. Safe and sound, he set it by the mamma and the other stunned sibling, still recovering from its painful leap.
One by one the babies continued to jump to join their anxious family below. Each time Joel hid under the awning just to reach out in the nick of time as the duckling made its free fall. Foot traffic on the downtown sidewalk came to a standstill.
Time after time, Joel was able to catch the remaining 8 and set them by their approving mother.
At this point Joel realized the duck family had only made part of its dangerous journey. They had two full blocks--walking across traffic, crosswalks, curbs, and pedestrians to get to the closest open water, the Spokane River.
The onlooking office secretaries then joined in, and hurriedly brought an empty copy paper box to collect the babies. They carefully corralled them, with the mother's approval, and loaded them up into the white cardboard container.
Joel held the box low enough for the mom to see her brood. He then slowly navigated through the downtown streets toward the Spokane Rive, as the mother waddled behind and kept her babies in sight.
As they reached the river, the mother took over and passed him, jumping into the river and quacking loudly.
At the water's edge, the Sterling Bank office staff then tipped the box and helped shepherd the babies toward the water and to their mother after their adventurous trip.
All ten ducklings safely made it into the water and paddled up snugly to mamma duck. Joel said the mom swam in circles, looking back toward the beaming bank workers, and proudly quacking as if to say, "We did it! Thanks for all the help!"
Whew! That was a great example of how just caring about another being can make a difference! We at Spirit Living salute Joel and his coworkers! - Editors
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Here is an example of animals rearing young from species other than their own from a Mother's Day broadcast of CBS News' "Assignment America." It's clear from this video that barriers between species and indeed between individuals and groups of people can be easily swept aside by the energy of love! - Editors
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Here is a great story from a photographer that illustrates his passion about a family of black bears. His letter was forwarded to Spirit Living by a reader. Mr. Sears is an accomplished nature photographer. If you'd like to find out more about him, his photographic work and see a preview of his book, go to his web site: http://www.digitalphotographics.us/ - Editors
The Bears and I
Black bears typically have two cubs, rarely one or three. In 2007, in northern New Hampshire, a black bear sow gave birth to five healthy young. There were two or three reports of sows with as many as four cubs but five was, and is, extraordinary. I learned of them shortly after they emerged from their den and set myself a goal of photographing all five cubs with their mom, no matter how much time and effort was involved. I knew the trail they followed on a fairly regular basis, usually shortly before dark. After spending nearly four hours a day, seven days a week, for six weeks I had that once in a lifetime opportunity and photographed them in the shadows and dull lighting of the evening. Due to these conditions the photograph is a bit noisy as I had to use the equivalent of a very fast film speed on my digital camera. The print is properly focused and well exposed with all six bears posing as if they were in a studio for a family portrait:
I stayed in touch with other people who saw the bears during the summer and into the fall hunting season. All six bears continued to thrive. As time for hibernation approached, I found still more folks who had seen them and everything remained OK.
I stayed away from the bears as I was concerned that they might become habituated to me, or to people in general, as approachable friends. This could be dangerous for both man and animal. After Halloween I received no further reports and could only hope the bears survived until they hibernated.
This spring, before the snow disappeared, all six bears came out of their den and wandered the same familiar territory they trekked in the spring of 2007. I saw them before mid April and dreamed nightly of taking another family portrait, an improbable second once in a lifetime photograph. On April 25, 2008 I achieved my dream...
When something as magical as this happens between man and animal Native Americans say, "We have walked together in the shadow of a rainbow."
And so it is with humility and great pleasure that I share these photos with you.
Sincerely, Tom Sears
Got handy tips, observations, stories and photos that you'd like to share? Send them to us at: editors@spiritliving.org.
