Author Archives: luminousimmensity
The Trees Are the Arms Around: A Psalmnody of the Earth
1 Listen to my advice: when you visit the sights in Kings Canyon, don’t miss the lushness and grandeur of Zumwalt Meadow. Take the path through the forest, past the Indian grinding rock, and across the bridge; then follow the curve of the canyon to the meadow in its scintillating freshness, full of rushes and […]
Wild
And there was this moment, after she turned 51, when the hunger surged: a desperation, a tidal wave. And it pointed her to something primal, old and yet very fresh and alive. Her whole self oriented to this new hunger that could not be controlled, explained, or softened. It was wild hungering for wild. There were […]
Shell Rock Lake
The yellowjackets congregate around singing some bright, fevered chorale of ins and outs, ups, overs, and aways, streaming their hoarse longing through the skyscraper trees. This barren, swept, human-carved spot is danced over and tended by these beings bringing their wild, pressing choir to this echoing, cathedral space. The trees of this place, mostly cedars […]
Landing
Waiting for the landing, for a soft fall to the spongy earth, Waiting for the lift of dank air, Waiting to drop down into my stomach and toes and the planet’s fire, Waiting for this spinning and clenching to come to rest on the shoulders . of ancient, living rock. It’s been months of […]
The Earth That We Knew Is Gone II
I knew I should have waited on that post; there was more to say on the subject, in fact, a whole different approach to take. Sure enough, the next morning, I awakened with the thought, “the earth that we knew — the only earth that we ever knew — is gone… just as it has […]
A Visit to the High Country
Now, now that I am here in the splendor, the words drop away in favor of the curved baby pine with the white trunk there with its sisters, gazing stoutly and freshly at the magnificence. Or is the magnificence there for it, holding it so dearly in the earth-wind-water-sky-rock cathedral, its own sacred heart, worshiping […]
The Earth That We Knew Is Gone
I have been waiting for the grief to come, and today, reading Bill McKibben’s eaarth, my grief was set loose when I read his summary of the de facto changes that have beset our lovely jewel planet. After chronicling the reasons our dear Gaia cannot recover in any recognizable way from the devastation that has already taken place, […]
Earth Practice: Re-Integrating
This is a perfect 5-minute practice for a break at work, for awakening to the beginning of your day or your weekend or as a precursor to meditation. Sit or stand comfortably outdoors where non-human elements are present: a park, backyard, garden, courtyard, or undeveloped space. It does not have to be a wilderness area, […]
Release of the Peace Lily
Today, planting a peace lily turned into an unexpected ritual of forgiveness and blessing. Several years ago, my husband took a small peace lily to work, planted in a professional-looking gray plastic pot. He enjoyed and nurtured the plant to the point of flourishing and then, over time, collapse. It was severely root bound, many leaves […]
Belated Earth Day Love Letter
This is your day, sweet Earth, dear planet swimming gently and powerfully through the sky. My dear ancestor, my cradle, my mother, my home. Today, truly, all I want is to look into your eyes and understand — you, myself, the cosmos. All I want is to stand in the wonder, arms outstretched, open to […]
luminous immensity 