Wherein I finally join my family on the lake

“Let us not allow otherness to bar the door to kinship, curiosity, and imagination. There is a bridge.” - David G. Haskell (biologist)

 


I still have boxes in the basement, but last night I felt nested enough to take my yak out on the lake at sunset with my family. Right before the sun dipped below the horizon I saw two hot air balloons land somewhere beyond the trees. The edges of the clouds turned pink and the lake turned to dark glass. Dragonflies darted above my head and a damselfly landed on a leaf, then floated past on the surface. Large white egrets gathered on the top of a bare tree. One stretched out its wings and reminded me of a favorite Bouguereau painting, “The Rapture of Psyche”. I saw a doe grazing on the bank of a small cove and nearby, a Blue Heron perched on a tree trunk. I also saw Bill Moore Jr., which was a delightful surprise.

I have always lived in close proximity to water. As a child I grew up on the south shore of Long Island. I lived most of my adult life in NYC, beside the Hudson River. Now nestled next to this exquisite lake, it still feels a bit like a dream.

Here’s a beautiful piece of writing about bird language by David G Haskell.

https://emergencemagazine.org/story/five-practices-for-listening-to-the-language-of-birds/