Sunrise Qoahog Bay Harpswell Maine August 2024
One cannot read the words “Sunrise, sunset …” without hearing the melody from Fidler on the Roof (if, of course, one is familiar with the musical). The words of lyricist Sheldon Harnick are both melancholic and eternally true.
“Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze.
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears.”
Indeed, as I write this short post, I am astonished that it is already September, sunflowers are prolific, and the days are flying by, “one season following another.”
Sophie, sharing the view from the deck with me – with interest!
Rather than share my every thought, I encourage you, my friend, to pause a moment to observe your next sunrise and see what thoughts float into your consciousness.
And then, perhaps, deliberately plan a little outing to the best possible place to follow the progress of a setting sun. When there are landmarks, like a treeline on the opposite shore, the progress of the setting is surprisingly rapid. Furthermore, it is always interesting to note that some of the most vivid colors follow the disappearance of the sun from sight, the afterglow. Does this tell us something about life’s experiences?
In any event, perhaps you might follow the process in the series of pics posted below. Enjoy. And do pause to reflect on your own Sunrise and Sunset.
Sunset at Lookout Point Harpswell Maine August 2024
Change is one of those Yin/Yang words. Just thinking of change has the power to initiate thoughts of fear, loss or unease. Reframed, the concept might be exciting, rich with opportunity, at the very least different but potentially better. The Yang version might be drive or struggle while the Yin side might be flow and process. In any event, change – something different – is often just around the corner.
*Speaking of outside – do we GO outside EVERY day? For some, this is a no-brainer. If we are fortunate enough to live in a place where outdoor space is abundant and welcoming, well, we are fortunate and therefore have no reason not to open that door and venture out. If we work outdoors, even if we need to get to our cars, or have dogs that need to be walked – again, fortunate. But sometimes we do need to pick ourselves up and spend time in outdoor awareness, noticing the terrain, feeling the air, observing the surroundings and listening. One of the advantages (yes, I count this as advantage) of having a dog is that he or she absolutely must go outside. Opening the door and granting pee time is not enough. Our furry friends need exercise so outside it is – rain, snow, sleet, hail – or so the saying goes. Invariably, we find that even the worst weather conditions offer their own benefits.
The month of August falls squarely in the middle of the Five Element cycle*. According to Gail Reichstein, Wood Becomes Water, Chinese Medicine In Everyday Life, “Earth is considered the prime stabilizing force.” Think also of the season, a time that brings spring’s seeds and summer’s growth to fruition, harvest, plenty. Think Mother Earth, nurturing, nourishing, balancing, accumulating, allowing and perhaps even sustaining deeply rooted hope. In today’s world of daily disasters, atrocities and frenetic technology, it is good to step back for a few moments and simply to be.
Recently I have stepped outside my comfort zone to join a book club led by my friend Ana del Rosal (
One of my favorite things to do is practice framing and reframing. I use the latter for problem solving and the former to capture scenes when I choose to take a leisurely walk to simply enjoy the beautiful state in which I live. Yes, ok, I get it. When I actually click the button on my phone to take a picture and not simply file in my memory, yes, ok, I have not turned my cell phone off.
Today was one of those days – serious rain followed by sun then by clouds then by hot sun then by a good drenching while the sun was shining then by thunder and a downpour then by bright sun …..But walk we did. Coming upon a road closure with two Labs on leash was a real find! Even the invasives are gorgeous as they thrive. Driving home from the local market I was forced to stop to capture the view. Letting my girls play in the beaver pond was so breathtaking, I just had to whip out the phone … and you know what followed.
Enjoy. Love from Sophie, Lizzie and me
No, I have nothing profound to say and certainly nothing that can pass as original thinking. But I have been thinking. A lot. Especially as I walk through the woods with scattered attention looking ahead and in the trees (yes in the trees) for a bear sighting (as that’s where they go when they hear my Sophie) and trying not to trip on the tennis ball that my Lizzie continually drops just as I am about to step.
Life happens. (Please feel free to substitute another four-letter word.) It’s been a challenging 6 months for absolutely everyone I know. I won’t go into detail but, yes, I know you and you have had it as well! To give a nod to the glass half full, perhaps the challenges are also helping foster growth. We may need to think about this or smother a groan but if we look at the world around us, we might plug in for a little personal growth as well.
Growth is apparent everywhere in nature as plants, bees, mushrooms, ferns, trees, slugs and of course the wicked woods flies all flourish and thrive! But it is all growth. May we grow as well.
*At this point in my writing, I reached back in my memory for something I had read by Rabbi Harold Kushner along the lines of answering the age-old question how could tragedy happen and where was God? His answer was that God was seen in the human response to tragedy, the love and generosity of those reaching out to help. As I searched for the exact quote I stumbled upon Rabbi Kushner’s obituary. I was stunned to learn that he had passed on April 28, 2023. Since reading “Living a Life That Matters,” (Anchor Books, A Division of Random House, Inc, 2001,2002) a book of his that I treasure, I have been a devoted fan. When a friend gave me a signed copy of one of his books, she proclaimed that I had found “my Rabbi!” May I suggest that you find a book title of his that peaks your interest and spend some reading time with this wonderful man? I share here from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you lived – that is to have succeeded.” Oh, Rabbi Kushner, you have succeeded.
It’s a wrap. Almost. December 31 to January 1 – the annual and inevitable threshold, the measurement of time witnessed by days, weeks and months throughout an entire year. Sometimes we arrive at this threshold, surprised, as if it is something new to be encountered. Sometimes we anticipate crossing into the new year with a mixture of relief and hope. We are relieved to have the old one done, wrapped up like a regifted holiday present, and hope that life must certainly become easier, or better, or warmer or well fed. 
After listening and reading O’Donohue, I can never again take the word “threshold” lightly. Yes, there is the threshold the carpenter installs in our homes as well as a myriad of objects and structures one must step over to move from one space to another. But, profoundly, we are faced with oh so many thresholds of living, proceeding from one moment to the next, sometimes heralded and sometimes passing in oblivion.
Perhaps you notice a collective change in the approach to the holiday season in recent years. In my circle of family, friends, clients, acquaintances and community, I do. Since March 2020 when Covid became a household word and unwanted guest, the concept of connection topped the list of that which is most important. Distant relatives and friends were able to visit face to face with the click of a mouse. Consumerism took a turn away from impulse buying in the checkout aisle to scrolling and searching in the infinite world of the internet. Instant acquisition governed shopping habits as gift cards became the gift of choice. But then, even as the virus kept us largely out of crowded shopping areas, financial insecurity put the brakes on spending for those thoughtful enough to recognize it.
In my small world, there is suffering this year. I can only offer compassion to those who have lost loved ones (animal and human), to those struggling with health issues, to those facing scarcity. I see in a friend’s face that she is conflicted and by another’s body language that there is sadness. Is it more pronounced in these years of Covid? Are we more vulnerable?
Watching as the world around us transition from season to season circling the year’s clock face, pass through clearly defined phases and then reconnect to begin again is a lesson in change, adaptation, and light. Yes, light. If we look – really look – with our physical eyes, inner sight, mental clarity and creative vision, we learn lessons that support and sustain us as we move forward.
Last weekend here in Vermont we were flooded with gorgeous, brilliant colors topped with a dusting of snow on our highest peaks. This weekend we are Past Peak and Still Beautiful. As I noted this on my walk, I was startled to realize that this is a meaningful concept indeed! How often do we admire an antique, painting, vintage clothing or older friend? How much do we appreciate the athlete who has transitioned from the prime days of record-breaking achievement to an athlete who, with maturity, coaches, writes, and reaches out with shared skills?
Is any of this less? Perhaps the transition itself is the learning curve to land experience as something useful rather than degenerative.
Arthur C. Brooks is a popular author whose latest book is From Strength to Strength, Finding Success, Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. I’m taking my time with this one as there are gems on each, page. You might also enjoy this podcast conversation of Brooks with Rich Roll: 
Within the principles of the Five Element Theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, we have fully entered the time of year associated with the Metal Element and find ourselves involved with the process of refining, honoring wisdom and self-knowledge. (Past Peak but Still Beautiful?) As Gail Reichstein writes in her excellent book, Wood Becomes Water, Chinese Medicine in Everyday Life, the emotion associated with this time of year is grief. “Grief also teaches us what we value in our lives and in the lives of others, giving us the opportunity to redirect our energies toward becoming who we most want to be.”
So I will suggest the same to each of you, my friends. Has there ever been a time in history when someone somewhere wasn’t afraid for his or her country? Do we think Abe had it any easier? My daughter’s favorite history teacher taught what she dubbed the “spiral theory of history.” So it seems. If all we do is wring our hands, complain, or sit it out, Ryan Holiday would have some words of advice for us – strong words paraphrased from The Stoics.
So today I celebrate my family and my community. I celebrate those who have the courage to question; those who define their beliefs and values and then stand up for them. I celebrate those who reach out to the less fortunate and I celebrate those who put words into action. I celebrate those who refuse to simply accept, “it is what it is.” Furthermore, I celebrate those who do so without violence.
The Green Mountain National Forest, and more specifically the Camel’s Hump State Forest, are just outside my door. It is therefore no surprise that black bears, who find this an ideal setting in which to live, breed and raise their young, are my next-door neighbors. For the most part, they are good neighbors. They have yet to knock on my door, but they have walked within yards of my home. They keep going, though, as there is nothing to tempt them and, if she notices, my chocolate Lab, Sophie, will make quite a fuss.
But let me go back to some of what I have learned. First of all, here in Vermont, we have BLACK bears. I first learned this a few years ago. I was hiking a 4000’ trail in New Hampshire on a day when there were very few cars parked on the lot below so allowed Sophie to hike off leash. At one point she ran just ahead of me, around a sharp turn, and I heard a voice shout – “OH (expletive-expletive)! If this is a bear, I’m dead!” (Note, Sophie is effusive in her greetings.) Within seconds several other young male voices laughed and teased the first male and began to play with Sophie. One reminded him that if, in fact, this had been a brown bear, he would be dead.
Which brings me back to my Mama Bear story. In 2000, I found myself unexpectedly single and in Santa Fe with my daughter who had just graduated from high school. It was meant to be a family celebration but became something much different. With my daughter’s help, I connected with the strength that I would need to go forward and recognized that the small, stone bear I purchased had special significance for me and for the years ahead. In Native American tradition, bears symbolize physical strength, leadership and are known as the “first helper.” Bear paws are a symbol representing inner strength. My new little figurine of a Zuni bear signifies The Guardian of the Earth. A heart-line arrow going from head to heart symbolizes a warrior’s heart, strong like the bear’s. If no longer a wife, I would be forever a Mama Bear. Today my bear sits on my desk next to my computer monitor. It has traveled many miles and through many situations since the year 2000.
I return to the Mama Bear identity one last time. Perusing the internet I found one statement in an ad for what was dubbed a Mama Bear fleece, that stated: “tough mamas maximize every day.” I also landed on this: “The real definition: A mama bear is a mama with boundaries. A woman who parents the best way she can, for her child, and a woman who doesn’t apologize for her choices. A mama bear is a woman who asserts herself in any way as a parent. She says ‘no’”. Mama Bear. I’ll take it.
Note: I take issue with this survey of black bears in Vermont! The bears in my neighborhood stroll, unconcerned, across patios and along country roads. By later in the summer, when readily available food in the woods is not so readily available, “our” bears have no problem searching dumpsters, around outdoor grills and even through an open door if they happen upon one. However, I do live in a region where bears find a natural habitat.