Today I’m watching the rains fall again onto my creek rather than hiking in the mountains, which were my plans for my day off, but sometimes Mother Nature, the great circle, and the great balance have other ideas. Though I’d rather be on the trail, this rain gives me a bit of quiet time to reflect on things and meditate. I find myself thinking back upon the recent summer solstice, another day when rain forced me to change my plans.  On this day, the rain was so hard that my fire pit by the creek got flooded so my solstice fire became a candle on a rock instead. This solstice was special though for it was the day I was to release the ashes of my parents back into the sea. I saved some of their ashes for my trip to the ocean the next day, but the lion’s share went into my creek during a tobacco ritual I did to honor the circle of life during the northern apex of the solar cycle. Continue reading →