a cloud of snow geese and sound / waves

Years ago while hiking along a ridge trail in the high desert of Joshua Tree National Park with my beloved, we were struck by a buzzing sound from the distance that started to get louder and louder. Desert landscapes must be some of the quietest places on earth so the sound baffled us - our first thought was that it was a jet approaching. Our sense of hearing was heightened as we weren't able to see the source of the sound. We stood in stillness listening until in the distance we could begin to see a cloud approaching quickly that soon came upon us - a swarm of bees! It is hard to describe the feeling of thousands of buzzing bees in a swarm swerving inches away from your entire body as they flew past us and continued their journey... so much awe of the wonders of other beings on our planet - and gratitude that they didn't view us a threat!

Today's dance practice reminded me of the cloud of bees. En-route to Vancouver, with little time to practice, I turned off the highway in the Skagit Valley to find a field filled with snow geese. With my back turned towards them, my sense of hearing was struck by an unfamiliar loud whirring and then a cacophony of geese honking. What a surprise, then, to SEE as I turned around, the lift off of hundreds of geese rising from the earth in a swarming, undulating cloud reminiscent of the bees in its dance in the sky... awe struck by the beauty.

Across the street was a field that had wavy tracks running through it, which seemed unusual as most of the fields in this valley are ploughed in very even straight lines. After being so struck by the waves of sound that we cannot see, and then the undulating waves of geese in the sky, I was feeling drawn to dance the 'form' of waves inspired from the field.

In awe of the magnificence of our mama earth I love Mary Oliver's quote - "There is only one question - how to love this world."

I feel my daily dance practices give me the opportunity in my daily life to express my gratitude for the big beauty and wonders that are all around us moment to moment if we take the time to slow down and drop into our sensual bodies... so challenging but so worth the effort.

I hope this blog may inspire you in some way - thank you for reading / viewing.

In the above photo the cloud of geese are in front of the distant mountain - hard to see in this size photo.

Snow Geese

Oh, to love what is lovely, and will not last!

What a task

to ask

of anything, or anyone,

yet it is ours,

and not by the century or the year, but by the hours.

One fall day I heard

above me, and above the sting of the wind, a sound

I did not know, and my look shot upward; it was

a flock of snow geese, winging it

faster than the ones we usually see,

and, being the color of snow, catching the sun

so they were, in part at least, golden. I

held my breath

as we do

sometimes

to stop time

when something wonderful

has touched us

as with a match,

which is lit, and bright,

but does not hurt

in the common way,

but delightfully,

as if delight

were the most serious thing

you ever felt.

The geese

flew on,

I have never seen them again.

Maybe I will, someday, somewhere.

Maybe I won't.

It doesn't matter.

What matters

is that, when I saw them,

I saw them

as through the veil, secretly, joyfully, clearly.

Mary Oliver

Music: Brian Eno

Visit my butoh mentor's beautiful blog here: Maureen 'Momo' Freehill