Welcoming the Water Rabbit

January 22, 2023

#1 - water rabbit!

And now we welcome the new year, full of things that have never been. - Rainer Maria Rilke

This weekend’s new moon marks the Chinese New Year when the year of the Water Tiger transitions to the year of the Water Rabbit. When I learned it would be the water rabbit I laughed - I knew had taken the perfect photo on Christmas Day. Apparently the water rabbit wanted my attention?

I love looking for shapes in the ice. When the water freezes I never know what might appear. It’s as if the universe has a blank canvas and the wind and water work together to create sculptures just so the sun can light them up. Temporary works of art available for the lucky soul that happens upon them. Secret - sacred - blessings. Always different, always unique. One of my favorite parts of winter!

Today I thought we’d let our imaginations take over and play a little. I’m sharing my favorite ice sculptures gifted to me on Christmas morning. I’d love to hear what you see - how would you caption them? I’ll number them to make it easier in the comments and replies.

#2 - Sphynx? Or as one person pointed out on Facebook, operatic duck?

#3 - An epic adventure of aqua man and his trusty giant-water-dog-creature sidekick?

It is the function of art to renew our perception. - Anais Nin

#4 - I love all the responses online to this one - I started with polar bear. What do you see?

#5 - Very fancy Hollywood diva-like dolphin?

#6 - Man in the moon?

#7 - Lizard with fancy paws?

#8 - Raccoon?

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. - Wayne Dyer

#9 - Saber-tooth water tiger?

#10 - I just keep singing, “if I could save time in a bottle”.

I intended to write a post today about what the water rabbit might mean and about the (many) lessons the universe has been teaching me this week. I’ve known for a weeks I wanted to use these photos this week. I’ve had many thoughts swirling and several pages of notes with a few different threads. For the first time in a very long time, nothing coherent came together.

What if this is the first lesson of the water rabbit? How might I interpret it?

Facebook memories reminded me this week of a drawing I created a decade ago. It’s my favorite of all my drawings and I wish I had framed it behind glass - but perhaps it too was meant to be temporary like the ice. I called it, “Homecoming”.

I hope you enjoy this little imagination game. May it add a little more playfulness to the week ahead.