October Owl'ing (TBD 10.26)

Hi, Friends -

Dr. Rob here.

Welcome to October Owl'ing.

Our owl neighbor (image h/t Rob Williams).

October in Vermont's Mad River Valley flows from Autumn's spectacular "peak foliage" glory to Stick Season's solemn stillness as dying leaves, bright and vibrant just a few weeks before, slowly seep into our forest floors in anticipation of the frozen Winter ahead. Most of our songbirds are long gone, but our owls are moving in, their late night calls resonating through our forests, haunting, yes, but also strangely soothing, sonic harbingers of a cozy season of quiet hibernation ahead.

For me, October also marks the annual anniversary / passing of my beloved mother-in-law Peggy Gunness. "Reverend Peggy," one of the first women ordained in the Episcopal church, proved a powerful presence in the pulpit, radiating wisdom and beauty and love in ways that still resonate, like an owl's call through the forest darkness. She was, and her Spirit still is, "luminous and numinous," in the words of her favorite theologian / philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Witty, wise, and wonderful, Peggy kept hanging in her Boston home her favorite bit of "owl doggerel" that I still quote from memory:

A wise old owl lived in an oak / the more he saw the less he spoke

The less he spoke the more he heard / why can't we all be like that old bird?

Amen.

Here's to more owling this Winter.

The Right Reverend Peggy Gunness - still luminous and numinous in the noosphere. (image h/t to Kate [Gunness] Williams)

September's good fortune found me in our Mad River Valley, TBD coaching Breath and Cold with gifted health practitioner Andrea Altman and her new body worker cohort at Green Mountain Massage School; the legendary Jae Bowman and his River Rock Rehab crew in the big city of Burlington; and culminating with welcoming visitors from away to our very first four day Vermont Vitality Retreat (VVR), co-hosted by Still Point neighbors Vince and Leah, with energetic support from The Inner Ocean's Cara Blake and Vermont native son Paul Bean, who assidously worked to Make Skies Blue Again.An inspiring VVR pilot gathering, enhanced by the autumnal beauty of our Vermont Shire, and our group's willingness to plunge in and experience everything Mad River has to offer. Look for more TBD nature-based retreats here in the months ahead.

Our Mad River Valley homestead cold plunge, sauna, and dance deck under an October harvest moon. (image h/t to Cara Blake)

As dear friend Leah suggests - each of us is "Human. Being. Becoming."

Amen.

Again.

Coming up this November?

Join me for our next online "12 BREATHS: A User's Guide" 4 week course.

Under the Hubbub of the Digital, Nature quietly speaks to us.

Through the Dark. 🌖

In the Light. ☀️

Up, from the Earth. 🦶

Down, from the Sky. ☁️

Inside, via the Water.💦

Outside, in Flow.

Each of us, enjoying 20,000 + breaths daily with all other living and breathing creatures.

“As we Breathe, so we Become.”

Enjoy October owling,

Rob

And before you go, here is a taste of our "12 BREATHS: A Users Guide" course - ->the 5 Tibetan rites (T5T).