Labrador

As I make my way home from my Labrador one I want to tell you that the trip to and along the southern coast filled me up with wonder and beauty.  I will post photos galore when I'm in Prospect but for now imagine the most exquisite pristine wilds, imagine Iceland, imagine mountain passes, eskers, and then deep bays and fjords, imagine!

Another Peace Vase gets planted

We head out for Nova Scotia on Saturday - we'll be there just for the summer and then back here. I love a road trip and I hope to post about the Labrador portion on this site but it might be awhile.

In the mean time the fella and I planted another Peace Vase. This time in Lake Melville - which is not a lake but an inlet of the Labrador Sea with salt water and tides and so on.

We went out on Monday evening, the weather had been moody all day, bright and then cloudy, rainy then clear but the water was 'flat calm' as they say and so we got into the canoe with our vase encased in cement and headed out to the middle. Here are some photos ...taken with the fella's old point and shoot - we won't take a good camera out in the canoe - it only worked til we got to where we were going - then it froze!
I think the photos are fine though... more on the Peace Vase Project  here.

Patterns On the Shore

an old theme but one that never fails to fascinate me is the way the chaos of the ocean meeting the shore creates such fine art ...

here are some recent photos of this phenomena

A fascination of crows

see the crows?

they graze on the shore

companionably.

 one appears to have something round in its beak. A pearl perhaps? Or a satisfying stone.

now they fly off, we have come too close.

Walking as Prayer

If walking is a prayer, and I think it is,
what does this mean?

By this, I'm talking of yesterday's walk,
where, as a few times before, I walked on what I thought
was tidal flats to find that it wouldn't hold me upright
and in fact, yesterday morning,
the earth flung me down,
onto my back, my camera thankfully held up.
Nothing hurt - too slow a tumble and I did
laugh and laugh, looking up at the sky in surprise.
To get up again meant that I had to get further wet and muddy

by placing one hand firmly in the muck and pushing up.
If you had seen me you would've seen a tall  woman who was
covered in mud from  her head all down her back and jeans to her boots.

I continued my walk reciting the mantra of dependent arising
on to the first beach where I sat in the sand and contemplated
the extreme beauty of everything.

I unwound it - unwound it - unwound it and found at the center nothing
but the earth's desire to claim me as her own - that falling was always a good
thing - to remember where I came from - the mucky sea - and where I am
headed no matter how many meanders I may make. In trying to avoid the mucky shore I had, like Oedipus, walked squarely into my fate.
My prayer then is this - thinking I am separate from the earth may I be remember that is an illusion,
may dependent arising always reach up and pull me down to where I can tip my head back and
see the true upside down world.

oh frabjous day!

Today was excellent good!

We got up early after a late night at the Ice and Water Dance - which was good rockabilly music, bring your own hooch and lots of group dancing. I gave a talk at the church service - Speaking of Silence - on meditation and silence in our lives. It was very well received and I felt gratified. Then home for a quick bite - grab the beasty and into the truck to go off to place a Peace Vase at Muskrat Falls.

Whoa! Wait a minute.

Peace Vases - to find out about them go here -
here is the short answer for those who don't like to wing about - A peace vase is a small tightly sealed container that is intentionally filled with all kinds of substances, blessed by those who have made them, with the sincere wish to benefit all beings and then they are buried around the globe, in major oceans, lakes and rivers, holy sites, places of war, strife and ecologically damage or degradation, with the hope that it will restore health to the planet, our earth, healing the land, turning war into peace.

PLANTING PEACE ON THE PLANET

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May the placement of these vases across the planet assist in creating world peace and harmony on all levels, in all places: in all major water bodies, on the highest mountains, in the largest rivers, at the most holy and powerful places, in all major ecologically endangered locations, and even in space.

Muskrat Falls - to find out about it go here - this is just one view but there are very few friends of the environment, friends of Aboriginal peoples and friends of Labrador that think this hydro-electric monstrosity is a good idea. I obviously don't and that and the fact that it is a beautiful and sacred place made it perfect for having a peace vase placed in it.

It is so beautiful there - especially on the North side where we were. You can't go on the South side much anymore - Nalcor (the Newfoundland and Labrador crown corp in charge of energy) won't let folks go there. There is lots of degradation of the environment happening already - here are photos of the side of the hill - stripped of its trees and the logs sit and rot..

So very very sad. All of this area will be flooded and so much lost. But that is why it needs a peace vase, no?

On the way home (and by the way - just to go down a different road - the different road - was thrilling) we saw another bear and the dear guy took this photo as I was on the wrong side! Isn't it the loveliest!