Karinaland River

  Canopy and Underground Network      Most of us have heard by now about the mycelium, ­a network of highways and pathways that tree-beings use to share messages, information, nutrition, and knowledge. They communicate, send warnings – they care. The complex underground “nervous system” is mirrored by the canopy. In the course of more than one hundred years, my four live oaks and single cork oak formed a grove with  ONE huge  beautifully rounded   dome – a merged Canopy . Now, with Mother Oak gone very soon, there will be a hole  –––  what will come about? I am a bit anxious, and very curious to learn… nature’s evolution, wisdom and wonders.   imagine the oak in the middle completely gone... a crater will be left... As you have seen in the recent photos I took of Big Mother Oak, she really is bare and has shriveled, pulling her energies into the root system. Then last week, I notice a humble miracle happening right in front of my bedroom...

Solstice in Red   All flowers invite us to ponder the mystery of life, the unknowable that might bring us closer to beauty. Beauty as an  alive quality  which is transient, transformative, and awe-inspiring because we humans can’t quite grasp it. Within this mystery, layers of vibrations reveal a depth, a shimmering being-ness that shines bright in its delicate beauty. And the fleeting song pierces – we are left with a fluttering in the heart...      may we protect   the always unknowable   mystery of life Since childhood up till now, I get lost for eternal minutes in the face of a flower, her presence consuming me. Growing up the red poppies at the side of the fields my favorite, but I am equally intrigued by forget-me-nots.   Mohnblume .  Showy flowers are of lesser interest. Vergissmeinnicht . Each has a distinct song. Diving deep into the mystery of a single tiny wildflower, face to face with the Big Mystery….   May we know true...

  Big Mother Oak     For the past fifteen years I have slept in her grand arms. Rested better than ever in my life. Beneath her majestic canopy, I felt safe and held as never before, cradled by the majesty of this old Coast Live Oak. She has not come back with green foliage this spring. She is bare and shrinking. Ambrosia beetles are feasting on her sap in the lower trunk. She has decided, I have to let her go. A deeply meaningful process for me – difficult – outer and inner. She is pulling her energies back into the root system, giving it over to her little sister, brother, children, and her dear friend, the Cork Oak a few feet away, huge in size like her. My immediate question to Mother Oak is:   “What are you trying to teach me? What are you gifting me?”   Like my elders and mentors throughout my life, Big Mama Oak disperses her wisdom in slowly unraveling stories that will accompany me for weeks, months, and years, waiting to be fully digested and deciphered...

  When We Used To Be     When we used to be   half human–half fish   half hunter–half horse   half oak–half nymph      half eagle–half lion     half owl –half  r ock      half woman–half man   we were strong then maybe we still are   alive… ?     We knew the heavens and earth inside out   the water and soil upside down   we knew how to swallow metal and fire    dance with danger and humility   curious to the bone we treated    life as revered teacher but now   we are brittle old and stiff    what now… ?     In childhood we spoke to god one on one   without thinking we drank the milk of goats   when thirsty     slept curled up in the sickle moon   then we forgot about the breadcrumbs   and could not find our way back home   the path became steep dark winding we lost    confidence –...