Misty Ridge Musings

Silence reins on Halcyon Pond.
That is all that rains.
A drought has set in; the last storm having raged weeks ago.
Dry and quiet.
Quiet but for the riot of color in the sky, and the symphony of emotion raging within.
This is my last sunset on my beloved pond.
Tomorrow I will venture out, making the journey to our new home.
Two decades, one score, spent here in contemplation, cloistered in the forest, a monastery of trees.
I have watched the circle of life dance through my garden and over over pond.
I have known the seasons with great intimacy, smelled the earth’s dark and its light.
I’ve spent these dry weeks sorting through my life, settling scores.
Choosing which mementos to take, which to leave behind. Which memories can I trust to linger without objects to anchor them?
I leave behind a community of loved ones. Wondering… which friends will persist without presence to anchor them?
It is like a small taste of death, this parting. Recognizing one will be missed, but that absence is filled in time.
The sea always fills the depressions in the sand left by our footsteps. It may take many waves, but eventually the sand is smooth, its surface seemingly undisturbed.
But still, our presence persists, in spite of absence.
Love persists.
It is to the sea I go.
Leaving the embrace of the forest, the embrace of my friends, I venture out to meet the sky and sea where there is no obstruction between me and the great expanse of existence.
Wondering… what stories await me there.