Monday, June 16, 2008

Wild and Boggy Grace

Showy Lady Slipper
(
Cypripedium reginae)

It's a summer moment I cherish, and one I dream about all winter long when the snow lies deep and white and icy cold in the gorge - the appearance of the first perfect specimen of Showy Lady Slipper in mid-June.

In the depths of winter, I peer over the side of the gorge and think of the wild and beautiful residents sleeping down in the frozen bog at the bottom - somewhere down those steep icy walls and out of the scouring wind is the hidden magical place where a centuries old community of wild orchids is dreaming under its blanket of white. The location of the colony is a secret, and I guard that secret fiercely.

Hallulujah, the first magnificent bloom of the year unfolded this past weekend right on schedule. There can be no greater privilege in life, no more perfect moment of wild grace, than to have been down there in the bog on my knees yesterday with the camera and bearing witness to something that leaves me wide-eyed, staring, open-mouthed and breathless every single year at this time. This is what grace and wildness are all about...

1 comment:

Michele said...

Absolutely breathtaking!