Thoughts on a monochromatic day
One hears the truly best sermons when one simply pays attention to nature.
It was a monochromatic Fall day on Lake Jeanette yesterday. The wind was angry, reverberating into emotional waves on the water surface. Their energy literally rocked my lonely kayak, and figuratively fed the ups and downs of my soul. The rocking of the kayak, on the empty lake, in the angry wind, made me think of Gordon Lightfoot singing "Lake Superior they said never gives up its dead"- perhaps a bit of an over exaggeration for the surface of Lake Jeanette, but then an apropos thought on grey fall day.
Although not captured well in my one multi-chromatic picture, the lake is now rimmed with maples, tulip poplars and sweet gums who have reabsorbed the nitrogen in their chlorophyll paving the way for the prettiest purple, red, orange and yellow pigments that glow against the grey sky.
There is always something spiritual on Lake Jeanette-- and I needed the monchromatic peacefulness, rocking of the boat, and challenging paddle to pierce a hole in a lingering bout of depression and anger. It worked at least for an afternoon. And (for those of you that followed the tale of the injured cormorant), I filled up with joy when rounding the bend, paddling parallel to the choppy waves (a bad idea), to see that my injured cormorant soul mate was still hanging out on the branch a few feet above the water. Today, and for the first time in the several months that we encountered each other, the cormorant was also joined by two other cormorants. I felt joy in knowing that not only was my "friend" still alive, but that it was not alone and not abandoned by its flock. And, I wondered whether they will stay together and grit it out with me through a Greensboro winter.
The other two cormorants were not particularly happy to see me, or at least they chose to fly off and swim in the water 100 yards away when I approached. But, my injured soul mate remained on the branch, flapped its wings a few times in vein, leading me to choose to believe that we each celebrated the fact that our encounters haven't ceased.
One can't help but feel spiritually enriched when kayaking on a crisp, beautiful Fall day, under a tar heel blue sky, and the glow of plant secondary pigments of reds, purples, oranges and yellows ablaze in the light of the sun, contrasting perfectly against the blue palette.
But, that wasn't yesterday. Nonetheless, there is an equal, if not stronger, raw power of allowing oneself to be enveloped in a monochromatic fall day, while navigating the angry wind and the choppy water, alone, other than an injured friend. Together they reminded me that there is power in the Yin and Yang of it all, in the contrast of vibrant color and cool grayness, and in the perseverance of a cormorant that speaks to hope. One hears the truly best sermons when one simply pays attention to nature.