Leave it to my son Ben to bring this Independence Day into sharp relief.  Visiting for just a day, we packed our agenda with all the things we love to do together, eat wonderful meals, watch movies, drives in the car, and yes, even begin to stack the three cords of wood just delivered. The rhythm and routine of these activities spans many years and I look forward to the structure our brief visits together can take as a result. Most recently, we have added hiking to the list and Ben brought along his hiking boots for just the occasion. This day, we decided to walk in the woods and to the brook on our property…

Such loaded meaning in those two words… ‘our property’…

Strolling between the trees along the sound of the rushing water, Ben was in true form expressing his pleasure at being there.

He marveled at Nora racing around in her independence, off leash and free, disappearing, and then appearing from behind, charging past us at full speed. We shared the awe of her beauty when she would stand still for just a moment, Ben urging me to capture this beauty with the camera.

He loved following along the path that has become so familiar now, listening to my explanation of things, the magic of the light on the water and beauty growing there too.

I don’t know what possessed me to add with emphasis at one point, “and this is all our land!” A presumptuous statement all by itself of course. I was still walking, but Ben had stopped when hearing this and literally broke into song, belting out his own improvisational version of the 1940’s song made famous by Woodie Guthrie, “This is Our Land, this is Your land, from Worth-ing-ton, to the trees and water…this land was made for you and Me!” Oh, never a dull heartfelt moment with this gorgeous young man!

If I had fallen into any aspect of losing perspective, or into complacency born of entitlement, or forgotten what gratitude felt like, well, this moment brought me right back to just how rich we are, and how lucky I am to be both inhabitant and steward of this beautiful land, and how important it feels to be sharing it with others in any way I can. Happy Independence Day indeed.

On the way back up the path, Ben says he wants to come back tomorrow and do this hike again!  Smile.  We come to the fork, two ways to complete a loop to the starting point.  I ask him if he’d like to go ‘this way’ today to see the heart of what we are.  This fork is a direct path to the giant piece of rose quartz that occupies the center of this property.  Happening upon this alignment recently added fresh meaning to the magic I already know lives here.

Moving closer to this venerable presence, as if to accentuate the point, the heart shows itself literally as heart inscribed into it’s surface.

Man-made?  I don’t think so.  Either way, it is a curiosity and an experience that I eagerly led Ben down to see.  He bent down and put his hand on the heart.  Pure connection…

We emerged from the woods and walked the path circling the outer edge of the meadow.  We noted the profusion of wild raspberries almost ready for harvest, picking handfuls to eat along the way. We watched Nora leaping through the high grasses of the summer meadow

and waited for the moment when we could capture her wild beauty on film once again.

Circling around the back edges of the apple trees, I realized that I hadn’t been this up close and personal with them since their pruning. What joy to note the exuberant growth of so much fruit hanging from the life giving branches.  Another harvest to look forward to…

It was a short sweet visit with Ben. However, the melody of his song is still ringing though my blood…