Posted on by Cathy Edgett

Stillness and Fluidity

This morning I’m with these words of Thich Nhat Hanh:

We don’t have to go anywhere to obtain the truth.

We only need to be still

and things will reveal themselves

in the clear water of our heart.

That brings me to my son and his wife’s whale watching trip.  I thought they saw 20 whales but my son informed me that they saw three feeding groups, and one group had 35 whales in it.  I’m feeling the magic, joy, connection, individuality, and serenity – fluidity.  A wave of sea lions joined in to feast on the fish swarming in.  Celebration is happening all around us.

Whales have complex brains. Like humans and other creatures, they feel complicated emotions. They grieve. One mother orca carried her lifeless calf around the globe for 17 days. She traveled more than 1,000 miles.  Once on land, they returned to the sea, and now they come close so we can see more of what we are, and can be.  We’re learning from trees and whales, and what’s revealed is inside the “clear water of our heart”.

Partake!
Mirror neurons ignite!
Snowy Egret at Rodeo Beach

Posted on by Cathy Edgett

Contrast

Yesterday one son and his wife were on a whale-watching boat in Monterey.  She took 18 videos and 87 photos.  They saw 20 humpback whales and 200 sea lions and birds and waves.  The whales were jubilant, jumping and spraying rainblows and waving their tails.  It can only be joy and an intention to share.  One whale came within five feet of the boat. A friend was in Baja this winter to be with the whales and their babies.  The mothers want people to touch the babies.  They’re reaching out to us.

I contrast that to a must-read book I’m reading.  It’s an easy read.  It explains what feels so hard to understand as we watch those in power seek to divide and destroy.  I highly recommend End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor.

We can fight fascism when we understand what’s going on, the groups that have united to destroy the world because somehow they think they’ll be saved.  Ego, anyone?

I tried to insert a video but I’m told the file type isn’t supported here. Visualize whales jumping and showing their tails, and spouting rainbows. An amazing experience.

A small taste of joy and bliss
Grace – it’s good luck to see rainbows in the spouts!

Posted on by Cathy Edgett

Nature

The summer issue of Orion magazine is all about whales.  Reading about how we were born in the sea, came to land, and then, some chose to return to the sea is thrilling in showing our need for exploration, adaptation, community, and diversity.  

Reading the news today, I contrast killing and greed with the Southern Resident orca named Tahlequah. In 2018, she mourned the death of her newborn calf by carrying it on her head and pushing it through the Salish Sea for 17 days.  She covered 1,000 miles.

Each day, we’re exposed to a need to grieve.  Each day we read of more people hurt by the policies of the Trump administration and other leaders around the world.  We share one planet. Can we learn from what surrounds us, our ancestors, our kin, the birds, the sea, the whales?

A Screech Owl comes to live in a friend’s garden, invited by an Owl House.

Posted on by Cathy Edgett · 2 Comments

Whale Spouts!

Yesterday at Baker Beach I sat and leaned against a log as I looked out at the ocean.  Immediately I saw whale spouts and breeching and felt my heart rise and fall in sync with something more than a little self.

My friend Elaine Chan-Scherer planned part of her 60th birthday celebration as a gathering of friends to clean up the beach.

The beach looked immaculate but we set out with bags in a group that soon settled into units of two or three for deeper conversation and intimacy. Doing so, we began to look more closely at the sand.  Yes, there were little pieces of plastic and cigarette butts.

With each bending down to pick something up was a realization and satisfaction that here was something that would not go into the digestive system of sea life.  Up and down I went like a sandpiper on the beach pecking not for goodies but for the joy of being part of an ecosystem shared. Try it. It’s fun!!