What I can see.....winter grass, looking healthy and alive despite the insesent rain, rain ,rain...grey subdued haunting colours with the green tinge of the spruce pushing to get through...my mixed little flock of sheep, the diversity of their shape, fleece, size and personality... But all integrating perfectly to munch on the hay I 've just brought them, some of the more feisty ewes having wrapped it around their horns as they eat.....me and Floss, muddy and wet, sat on the soft tuffty ground watching and being…. I can hear the call of the buzzard family living in the trees above us, the gentle quacking and splashing of the wild ducks in the pop up field pond caused by the over flowing beck, the sound of the sheep methodically consuming their hay, the roar of the gusting wind as it hurtles down our little remote dale and emerges forcefully through the trees... The loud pattering of the heavy , persistent rain hitting the hood of my Gortex jacket. Through my nose travels the smell of the sweet haylige, ( very sweet thanks to this summers long warm sunny days), the saturated on top, (but warm and dry beneath), fleeces of the Jacobs, Mules, Shetlands and Suffolks of the flock, the wet dog aroma of Floss and of course that magical smell of rain hitting the grass and soil.... And I can taste that rain as if runs down my face, through the streaks of mud I know are already splashed across my skin…. I can also taste the lingering treat of my morning mug of sweet hot chocolate that accompanies me outside to the land, most especially on these wet, dark, formidable mornings. I feel the cushioned chill of the ground I'm sat on, the cold sharpness of the sting of relentless driving rain in my face, the steaming warmth of the sheep sounding Floss and me, and then of course the loyal and loving warmth of Floss herself as she leans her collie body into me for some protection against the wild weather…
And then of course I feel my spiritual connection to all of this .... I am a small part in this moment but a very real and present part... I feel the pull of energy through the ground drawing my connectivity through the layers of soil and rock and deep deep down to the molten centre of our beautiful planet. I know or I guess that every other living being could be experiencing this too at this, my, brief pause in time. And that gives me an immense sense of belonging, peace and hope.
And then of course I feel my spiritual connection to all of this .... I am a small part in this moment but a very real and present part... I feel the pull of energy through the ground drawing my connectivity through the layers of soil and rock and deep deep down to the molten centre of our beautiful planet. I know or I guess that every other living being could be experiencing this too at this, my, brief pause in time. And that gives me an immense sense of belonging, peace and hope.