Fold your wings, my soul,
those wings you had spread wide
to soar to the terrestrial peaks
where the light is most ardent:
it is for you simply to wait
the descent of the Fire – supposing it to be willing
to take possession of you.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
I met with two labyrinth friends from the Portland area who took me to walk a most beautiful classical labyrinth. It had been lovingly created by planting shrubs and flowers in troughs of stone and soil. These planted areas acted as boundaries to the winding path.
In the centre was a fountain of water gently spilling out of a boulder and into the surrounding pool which had sitting stones nearby on which to rest a while.
The labyrinth created a place of reflection, peace and refreshment. A welcome gift.
‘I expected something remarkable but was not prepared for a scene of such wonder and beauty…it seemed a blue gulf…Nowhere else had I ever seen such a shade of blue…how exquisite, rare, unreal.’
Zane Grey, 1919
Farewell Crater Lake. Our souls have been nourished by beauty.
Woke before dawn and drove 30 minutes through black forest (saw no bears – very disappointed) to the crater rim. Over the next hour the lake turned from black through grey, pink, orange, yellow to white and settled a bluey-grey colour. The deep blue returned as the clouds blew away.
Dawn gifting colour
wakened our souls to the day.
This life is precious.
Spotted this Golden – Mantled Ground Squirrel sitting and looking into the blue.
I decided to do the same – but with coffee, naturally.
Took the road W-SW of Bend down to the Cascade Lakes. We would have loved to paddle the wilder Sparks Lake but as you needed your own canoe, and we didn’t pack ours, we drove on to Elk Lake and rented one there. At almost 4,900 feet the lake affords a wonderful view of Mount Bachelor.
In our element!
We saw snow capped Mount Hood (11,235 feet) in the distance as we crossed the High Desert on the way to Warm Springs Indian Reserve.
The Molala Indian name for Mount Hood meaning Great Mountain is nífti yáηint.
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Portland.
Music superb, particularly John Tavener’s ‘The Lamb’; liturgy thoughtful; sermon deep, honest, supportive and challenging.
One of the things travel opens up is an attention to each moment. Seize the day!
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.
Augustine of Hippo (354-430 BC)
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