full moon's walk to the labyrinth

It was such an amazing walk down today I am popping in to share it!

On the first portion of the path, there are newly blooming sunflowers that have come up from some undigested black oil sunflower seeds I give the horses. They are in a row, as if planted there on purpose, and as busy as I am, without the time to garden, I view them as gifts.

A few steps from the sunflowers, I looked down and saw a beautiful box turtle digging a hole. It was the same kind of turtle whose empty shell we found the day we first looked at this house and property, and the then owners allowed us to take the shell home with us. We still have it on our nature shelf.

The turtle symbolizes an invitation to enjoy the blessings of both heaven and earth, and also longevity. I gently moved this box turtle off the path, so she wouldn't be in the way of the wheelbarrow. By the time we came back up, she had disappeared.

Further along the path today, in the dusky early evening forest, a branch had fallen and landed in the shape of Kano, the rune of opening and renewed clarity. It often heralds the beginning of a venture, the morning of an activity or project.

As my daughter and I came out to the labyrinth itself, she reminded me that she had heard the crow down there just minutes before. I have continued to see just one crow on a daily basis, and one morning earlier this week, when I walked down with the wheelbarrow, I found the crow literally walking the labyrinth.

As she was telling me about hearing the crow, I looked up and spotted a large doe on the crest of the hill watching us. Deer often call us to new adventures, and if you've ever come across a deer that bounds away, you probably felt the slight urge to follow. She was in the open, and we were pushing the squeaky wheelbarrow and not at all being quiet. The doe stood and watched us for several minutes, as we walked all the way down to the end and formed the next few feet of the labyrinth with our load.

Just as I tipped the wheelbarrow, my daughter exclaimed "Look - it's a crow feather!" The doe bounded away in giant leaps, spanning the distance from clearing to wood line in only a few strides. I looked down and there was a gorgeous black crow's feather, in the middle of the very end of the path, behind us. That we had managed to wheel and step past it without crushing it made it all the more special.

We brought it up, and listened to the horses blowing in the field as they grazed.

I hope everyone is enjoying similarly exciting summertime journeys.

An added note on Wednesday morning: if you are reading this today, notice that the Word of the Day is labyrinthine! What a perfect synchronicity.