Last night was an amazing night with the moon. I was lucky. I went to the top of a pass nestled deep within some very powerful Mountain Spirits where I said my prayers and simply allowed the energy of all the directions to flow through me to others. It was dusk....the betwixt and between time when the alpenglow sets everything on fire within a purple sky. I felt so blessed.

Today, I went to the river with my dogs and boyfriend after I worked on two paintings...One is called Moon Flow and the other is another painting of the Corn Mother. Later I will share some of her lessons. It has been warming up here lately, and much of the ice has melted along side the river, and there were bugs! I couldn't believe it...bugs in the most surprising places. What a joy to see them after such a long, cold winter so far. Sitting alongside the river, listening to the silence and the roar, I realized that the river is a teacher about listening. Sit next to any body of water, and there are so many layers to hear. Just like when Spirit is talking to us or when our best friend is sitting across from us or when a person we can't stand is yelling at us....there are so many different layers underneath every word that is spoken, and the sad thing is that usually we only hear one layer of what is being said....usually that layer is what triggers us, and because of that trigger, everything else is non-existent. If you want to learn how to listen with your heart to all of the many layers within this beautiful world, go sit by a river or an ocean or a creek or a lake....close your eyes, focus upon your breath, and listen without attachment...without having to name anything. Just listen. If you can't get to a body of water, sit underneath a tree or upon a hill....or next to a busy intersection...any place will work. You might be amazed at what your heart listens to.

Yes, this is a picture of me at Lake Tahoe. My boyfriend and I went up there for the day, and it was a cold, windy morning. Most of the state parks were closed for the winter, but we found one that just opened its gates for the day. Nobody was there. We had the entire park to ourselves, and I can't even begin to describe how amazing this was…to have the entire park to ourselves….no voices, no people, just pure silence within the woods. I found this pier, and I had to lay down on it to listen to the water. I told my boyfriend to not take a picture of me, which of course meant to him that he had to…:)