What is man without the beast?

After the long, cold, dark and quiet winter months, what a delight it is to hear the first honking of the Canadian geese way up in the sky announcing their arrival.

Newer sounds start to fill the air as the birds come home . The gulls, ravens, starlings and doves follow the geese. Though the weather is still cold, the squealing, cawing sounds warms the heart and awakens in us a wonderful anticipation of spring. We share the land with these birds and beasts. They  reveal to us the ways of nature and its eternal cycles. How desolate our lives would  be without them!

"What is man without the beasts? For if all the beast were gone, man would die of a great loneliness of the spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected" - Chief Seattle

Leisure, to stand and stare ..

Today leisure is sadly equated to laziness. We are hell bent on eliminating leisure entirely from our lives and that of our children too. We pack every bit of our time with activities and the lull between activities is filled with anxieties. I came across this beautiful poem on "leisure" by Welsh poet W.H. Davies where he laments the futility of a life without leisure.  The beauty of living is lost when leisure is lost. Let us allow then some leisure in our lives, a daily sabbath of a half hour sans activities or anxieties!

Some time to stand and stare .. 

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad day light,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare. - W.H. Davies