Earth Song: Emerging Spring

Western Skunk Cabbage - photo
Western Skunk Cabbage – photo by Jane Valencia

Spring is awakening … in the tiny reddish buds on the Silver Birch, the bright faces of Daffodil and Dandelion, in the return of the Rufous Hummingbird with the first pink blossoms of Salmonberry, in the mysterious and murky spathes of the Skunk Cabbage in the wetlands.

Spring suffuses the air — lengthening  the days, and invoking the renewal of exuberant and anguished egg-laying by our hens. It infuses our vital force, and we too may feel a budding and greening, the surge of sap rising — pulled upward  by way, as with the trees, of the crown of ourselves. — drawing forth the minerals and waters from our saturated winter-fed subconscious, and nourishing our fancies and wishes, plans and motions with the sweet and potent brew of life.

Here in the Pacific Northwest the persistent rains, and soaked fields, forest, and pathways remind me that we humans are of the waters and the earth. Fluids move through us, a constant interchange of absorption and release of various aspects of earth and air. We are sparked and fueled by the fire of life, and awash with the streams, rivers, tides, and tranquil ponds that communicate within us our ocean nature. We possess greening, leafing selves, pulled upward even as we root downward and and outward in our daily quest for essential nourishment to sustain our spirit and selves.

Bright stars of thought and imagination, the deep inner mystery of our own genetic coding, and the unending, surrounding, and inner flowering breath of the Divine urge us to reach in ways that enliven the deepest threads of our being. The successive layers of our own wood nature — our progression and story through the years — sculpt our resilience and strengthen our resolve as we respond to the changes, stresses, and wonders that is life on our blue-green world and with one another.

If you are alive, you are always listening and responding. Your trillion cells listen and respond, as does your very soul. The earth song that shapes and shifts the world around and within us is a music that every aspect of us knows, and an improvisation and composition within which each of us has a voice.

Who are you when nature and you know no boundaries, when one flows into the other and you recognize yourself in the garden, and the forest within your heart? When the Divine is soil and the soil is music? What is the earth song you express into being just by being yourself rooting and growing, leafing and flowering nourished by the very soul of your nature?

I invite you to share your musings below.

Welcome to Spring!

Spring Music: How are you Poised and Listening?

Early Cycladic Harper - art by Jane Valencia
Early Cycladic harper – 3rd millenium BC – black and white gouache on Bristol board by Jane Valencia

Above is art that I created for my illustration class at the Georgetown Atelier in Seattle. The figure is an Early Cycladic sculpture of a harper. The Cyclades are a group of Greek islands in the southwestern Aegean sea. In the third millennium B.C., these island developed a distinctive culture and art, of which this harper is an example.

Back in the late ’80s, in my first months taking harp lessons, a group of us made a trek to the De Young Museum in San Francisco to see an exhibit of this sculpture — which I’m pretty sure included this figurine. I was — and am — captivated by both the style of the sculpture, and particularly by the harper, a colleague from more than four thousand years ago!

Early Cycladic Harper - Sculpture
Early Cycladic Harper – sculpture from 3rd Millenium BC

The harper is attentive, listening– it seems to me — to whatever else is taking place. He is poised to play when the appropriate moment opens. As one who has performed at many events during which I too waited, listening, until the moment when I would play, his bearing is oh-so familiar. Perhaps you can relate to such moments in your life as well!

Here, in this moment, how are you listening? How are you poised to play/create/take action when the moment springs awake? What music is this changing season whispering, laughing to you? If you wish, please share your thoughts below.

Here’s another “ancient” snapshot: two harpers listening as a third harper plays (some of you readers will recognize these lovely folk!)

Harpers of all levels enjoy sharing the love of their instrument with others.
Two of these harpers are listening too.

Giveaway! Three (or more) Storytelling Festival Tickets and a Book

***Congratulations to Stacy, Jude, Sharleen, Natalia, and Susan — winners of this year’s Storytelling Festival ticket Giveaway ***

VWP Storytelling Festival Poster
Vashon Wilderness Program Storytelling Festival Poster

It’s that time of year again when the Vashon Wilderness Program holds its annual Storytelling Festival. Forest Halls, with its mission to keep magic alive in our world, is proud to help sponsor this fun-filled, family-friendly event.

When: Sunday, January 31, 2016. Event starts at 1:30, with Storytelling beginning at 2PM.  Where:  At the Open Space for Arts And Community, Vashon, WA. Tickets: Advance – $40/family, $20/individual. Door: $45/family, $25/individual

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post and elsewhere in this blog, storytelling is part of our nature, and indeed can be thought of as an expression of nature herself. This year VWP is delighted to have the following storytellers take the stage:

Roger Fernandes, a Coast Salish storyteller who entranced Vashon islanders a year or so ago with his rich, resonant, heartful and generous tales. I am eager to experience him!

Bonny Moss, a VWP parent and teller. The first story I ever heard from her — a rollicking Coyote tale — remains woven into my storymind. The wild and wondrous is her playground!

Ted Packard, a VWP instructor skilled in bringing young and old along a trail of mischief, deep-rooted wise ways, and the truly unexpected.wonders of our world.

The Vashon Wilderness Program has given out over $100,000 in scholarships to help children connect to nature, and the Storytelling Festival has been essential in helping support VWP’s commitment to never turn a child away due to lack of funds. In addition to the storytelling, this year’s event will feature a Dessert Auction, a Sensory Forest with nature crafts and games,  complimentary food and drink, and — as always — an opportunity to connect with family, friends, and nature-rooted community. Please read more about the event here. You can expect some serious fun and magic at this year’s Storytelling Festival!

Giveaway Details.

I will be giving away $120 worth of tickets in a drawing on my blog. That $120 translates to either 3 family tickets, 6 individual tickets, or a combination each! I’m also giving away a copy of my book, Because of the Red Fox, to one of  you who can’t come to the Storytelling Festival. Drawing closes at 11:59pm on Thursday, January 28, with the winners being chosen and notified on Friday, January 29. Only one prize per family.  Winners’ names will be added to the event’s Will Call list.

 To enter the Giveaway please read my post Discover the Earth of Your Story, consider how you’ve told stories today, and how, today, the world has lived a story into you, and leave a comment there or here (I’ll be checking both places). Please specify if you’d like to win a Family ticket, an Individual ticket, or a book.

For more chances to win, leave a separate comment below each time you do the following. Again, note in at least one comment whether you’d like to win a Family ticket, Individual ticket, or a book:

  1. Check out the description of Coyote Mentoring on the Vashon Wilderness Program web site and tell me what you think is most compelling to you about Coyote Mentoring.
  2. Sign up for the Vashon Wilderness Program’s newsletter and receive their free booklet “10 Awesome Practices to Make Nature a Natural Part of Your Family Life.” Tell me which of the 10 Practices you’re excited to introduce to your family or into your own life.
  3. “Like” the Vashon Wilderness Program on Facebook
  4. On Wed. Jan. 27, at 10am PST, Voice Of Vashon/KVSH 101.9 FM will interview VWP’s Executive Director, Stacey Hinden and with Storytelling Festival teller, Ted Packard. Listen to this live streaming interview with Stacey and Ted  about story, nature connection and children, and hear Ted tell a story. Share something in your comment that you learned, or found exciting or fun from the interview.

And here are even more chances to win!

  • Sign up for Forest Hall’s ezine. Are you already on my mailing list? Then please share something you enjoy about my ezine or blog.
  • Read my article When an Island Tells a Story and respond to the questions about Geographical Story either there or here. (I’ll be checking both places)
  • Follow Forest Halls on Twitter and tweet this Giveaway with hashtags #foresthalls #familymagicgiveaway . (Please list your Twitter ID in the comment so we can find you)
  • Post about this Giveaway on your Facebook page

Again, sign ups for the Giveaway end at 11:59PM PST on Thursday, January 28, 2016. I’ll draw the winners on Friday, January 29. There will be only one prize per family. Good luck, everyone, and thanks for entering!

Final note: Even if you don’t win, come to the event anyway. I guarantee you a fun and nourishing time!