Jan 19, 2021
I took some time out for a sit down by the river today.
I found a spot with a mini beach made of rock.
The smell of the turning water, mixed with earth and mud, came in through my nostrils and went behind my heart, deep into my belly, and I smiled.
The ducks were in all their glory today, sunshine giving their greens and blues and browns such a beautiful reflective sheen.
I let myself lay back on the rock, dropping down to Momma Earth in full surrender.
I let go.
I said thank you.
I let go some more.
And then, as I always inevitably do, I felt the call to start to come back up to engage with the world again.
I let myself just pause at the sitting though, before getting up to leave.
I was drawn to spend even just a little more time watching the ducks again.
And then I was given a gift.
This female duck just let herself be close to me.
She wasn’t looking to me for food.
She had plenty floating by and under the surface of the water.
She was just doing her thing and let me witness.
She came right up to the rock that I was sitting on and she sat too.
Next to me, like we were friends, just having a quiet sit together.
She started to groom and let me see all the intricate ways she cares for herself. How she tends to all her feathers and how much she can fluff up and then smooth out so gracefully.
It was beautiful to watch.
And then, she did something even more magnificent.
She rested.
She rested right there next to me.
She was so close that I could see the definition and movement of her eyelids when she blinked.
I’ve never seen the eye lids of a duck and how magnificent and almost translucent they are.
The lower lid seems to emerge under a sheath at the bottom edge of the eye.
The blink is so seamless and smooth, like a shade being drawn up or down.
I watched in amazement at this incredible manifestation of primordial intelligence- this incredible little duck body made perfect for this time and place.
I felt the gift of her trust.
That she would trust me enough to settle, even close her eyes, and take in the sun right next to me.
Her trust helped me to know and trust myself.
Thank you little duck momma teacher.
I will be carrying your gift of time and presence with me out into the world.