Sit Spot, Day 16

Sat out in the morning. We had a rare spell today when my husband had a lot of free time to spend with our child, which meant I had a rare dose of time outside by myself without any constraints. What a gift.

I went to the tree but felt called to explore a little sunny area beside it, in the middle of our mini backyard forest of white pines, maples, and apples. The burnt orange pine needles are thick on the ground there, and I sat down in them and drifted into a reverie of plants, sunlight, breezes, birdsong. I was surrounded by Springtime, growth, everything pushing toward life.

Sat still for the minimum 20-minute sit duration, then, considering the option of going inside to do chores or taking a nap in the forest, I lay down on the needles. They provided such a cushion, and the earth beneath them was also so soft, that I was in complete physical comfort. The pine branches above me swayed in the breezes, and the sun that skirted them was hot on my face. I closed my eyes and focused only on the sounds around me, and felt my ears grow out like a deer's, amplifying and directing my sense of hearing threefold. There was a sudden, loud, active rustling in the leaves three feet away, but during the time it took me to slowly turn my head for a look, all became still and quiet.

Robins, cardinals, and others sang. A plant stood beside my head (Indian paintbrush?), long, silvery, hairy leaves holding the sunlight like a sculpture of light. The scent of the pine needles was heavenly, bringing back beloved memories of younger days of free wandering, endless days with the Earth.

My sit pine eventually began to shade most of the forest floor, and when the chill was sufficient to motivate me to move, I walked out onto the lawn in the sun and lay back down on the grass, now soaking the full heat of the sun into my skin and clothes.

It seemed I was being transported back to a morning in my younger years, when I was blessed with an infinity of moments free to spend outside. There was nothing but the sun, the warmth, the earth, the birds singing, and the gift of witnessing it all.