week 5, post 1

One of the things I was (happily) unprepared for as I came to the bayou was the remarkable, haunting beauty of this area. The sights of the sun and moon rising and setting over the marsh is incredible. The snow white wading birds, the brilliant night-time stars (the air is very clean), the quiet of the night (except for the grunts, screams, growls and other sounds of the marsh animals) are all beautiful. I am reminded of the Navajo prayer I carry in my wallet:
"Now Talking God,
with your feet I walk.
I walk with your limbs,
I carry forth your body.

For me your mind thinks,
Your voice speaks for me.

Beauty is before me,
And beauty behind me.
Above and below me
hovers the beautiful.

I am surrounded by it,
I am immersed in it.

In my youth I am aware of it,
And in old age
I shall walk quietly
the beautiful trail."

I have been privileged to experience the awesome beauty of the Canadian Rockies, the New Mexico desert, Northern Saskatchewan and other wondrous places. This lonely place, the bayou, has become indeed another place of fulfillment of this prayer for me.

There is no longer any surprise or wonder for me as to why the residents here are so fiercely loyal to this place, their home for over 200 years. It is beautiful.