Wilder Tribe

Petals fluttering down from fruit trees, secret flowers tucked away where you think you've already looked, cool bright early mornings filled with birdsong. My body feels alive, sometimes exhilarated, letting each sensation sink in richly. Every now and then i walk out of the house in the morning and catch a whiff of summer, laden with memories.

I love going by the pond, watching the tadpoles grow and differentiate themselves into green ones and speckled, big and little, many subtly different shapes. Backstrokers and whirligig beetles and minuscule baby water striders and all kinds of wacky larvae, newts and garter snakes, that pond is just teeming with life and it's all so watchable and fascinating!

You see, i haven't lived a spring time for three years. In 2004 and 2005 i spent these months at 17 degrees north and 5 degrees south latitude, respectively; this – oh this! – is different. The sense of quiet, grey, cold stillness, of rest, bursting forth in a sudden cacophony of new life – it's filling me and surprising me. I'm finding myself appreciative of so many people, affectionate and expressive. I can remember other years when I watched people interact this way and wished i were, too. Welcome, beth, to your present moment! May i remember this season.

I became a Lost Valley exploring member in January, about the same time that sager and Marty became full members. I'm coordinating the kitchen here and while that doesn't feel like vocation, it's fun, it fits some of my skills, and i feel that i can do it well. It sure meshes easily with living here. No commute, i get to be around my family all day, sweep a kid up when he needs me, tell what's going on in my heart to someone safe, work early and jump on my bike after lunch, cultivate a sense of place. I really don't want anything else right now.

A camas flower at Lost Valley. Camas is cool and its history relates to the history of our meadow. Check out http://www.paghat.com/camas.html

Sager's facilitating the Heart of Now and doing it superbly. She feels comfortable and solid and growing to me, and we've found a yummy equilibrium with each other. Marty's focusing on LV fundraising, actually only working half time right now. You should just see how alive he seems! Check out his page on this website, i think he wrote about it himself.

And Kite and Mariner! They are huge and brilliant. Kite is driven to be social, wrapped up in the intricacies of interrelating with the other eight kids on the land. Deeply empathetic, he regularly astounds folks with his insights. Mariner is loving numbers and manipulating and building things. Recently he and i started doing sudoku puzzles together. They're both in the process of learning to write and read, according to their own desire to know. They're taking part in the DELVE (diversified experiential lost valley education) program, which functions a bit like a free school within Lost Valley. They do handicrafts and explore nature and create stories and make theater, ride bikes and take long walks. Recently Kite's been remarking, "you know, i used to not be able to do this, but one day i just woke up and i could do it!"

Oooooh, lovelovelove.

I probably love a lot of you reading this, too. Know that in your hearts and THRIVE!