"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." - From "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver
Hello friends! This is one of my favorite lines of poetry and I relish it every time it comes to mind. It was cold this morning (Wednesday) with wind chills down near zero. I walked out to the lake and was surprised not to see many migrating ducks - so I walked back to my car pretty quickly! Fastest two miles I’ve done in a while.
I am ever so grateful for wool clothing, puffy coats, beaver-skin toe warmers, and what is now a five-layer bespoke mitten system that allows my hands to stay warm while still being able to work the camera! Of all the things I’ve learned over the last 10 years, how to dress for the weather is top of the list on a day like today.
Here are some favorite moments for today:
Sunrise, November 30, 2024 - our first snow of the winter and it was just a dusting.
Sunrise, December 1, 2024 - I love these kind of mornings with fog rising from the lake.
It’s officially duck-watching season! These are northern shovelers.
My brown creeper friend popped out in the light to give me a better view.
Gadwall with the low flyover.
Hello lovely mergansers! Please stay a while!
Mrs. ring-necked duck popping up in the right light. If you look closely, you can see the very faint namesake ring around her neck. I’m convinced whomever named this duck did it as a way to tease all birders because most of the time that ring is invisible!
Chickadee giving me the perfect pose on some berries.
I’m sorry, but every time I look at this I hear, “whatchyou talkin about Willis?” (Arcane 80s TV reference, I know!) Cedar waxwings are a hoot.
Sometimes a bad photo is still a good photo, when it’s a bird that shouldn’t be here. This is a wester grebe, a rare visitor to these parts. This bird was reported for about two weeks by a lot of people before I finally saw it.
First American tree sparrow I’ve seen this winter giving me the little flip of the wing, like the sweet little dancer she is.
Sometimes I just like watching reflections in the water.
It’s owl season!! That is, the time of year I have the greatest chance of seeing and hearing great-horned owls anyway. They are busy mating for their early January nesting.
This was just ten days ago but I already miss these colors!
May your weekend be blessed with connection and joy.
Life in the Real World is a reader-supported publication. Any support is deeply appreciated! You can support this work for as little as $5.
I love this post! There's so much mystery, surprise, anomaly, and humble blessing (puff coats and mittens). Weather is so amazingly subjective! We in South Florida had a "cold snap" this past week -- nights in the 50s -- BRRRR! I'm still in bundled-up-in-a-blanket-and-a-shot-of-heat mode as a native. But where I went today I saw women in sleeveless tops, short-shorts -- total Florida tourist gear! Go figure! Not sure what my point is here, other than to say, Sometimes walking on your knees through the desert brings you to know that "soft animal of your body." I think that's the Advent lesson of Jesus in the wilderness. Mystery, surprise, anomaly, blessing...
I love that Mary Oliver quote as well. But I might speculate that our saint (for such she was) at one time may well have contemplated such austerities as the desert but in a moment of illumination realized the grace of forgiveness she mentioned. I would add to her quote:
"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." And know that the soft animal in the fullness of time grows to goodness whether you will it or not and always will repent the harm it does to those it loves, and in that fullness it will love all things.
I love this post! There's so much mystery, surprise, anomaly, and humble blessing (puff coats and mittens). Weather is so amazingly subjective! We in South Florida had a "cold snap" this past week -- nights in the 50s -- BRRRR! I'm still in bundled-up-in-a-blanket-and-a-shot-of-heat mode as a native. But where I went today I saw women in sleeveless tops, short-shorts -- total Florida tourist gear! Go figure! Not sure what my point is here, other than to say, Sometimes walking on your knees through the desert brings you to know that "soft animal of your body." I think that's the Advent lesson of Jesus in the wilderness. Mystery, surprise, anomaly, blessing...
I love that Mary Oliver quote as well. But I might speculate that our saint (for such she was) at one time may well have contemplated such austerities as the desert but in a moment of illumination realized the grace of forgiveness she mentioned. I would add to her quote:
"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." And know that the soft animal in the fullness of time grows to goodness whether you will it or not and always will repent the harm it does to those it loves, and in that fullness it will love all things.