Love the spiral on this log.

Magic and miracles has been my mantra for decades. I am so ready to live it and sense that this month of May. The first miracle happened on Beltaine, May 1st. We invited folks over for a barbeque and bonfire. As the evening came to a close, children and chairs collected, dishes gathered, hugs given, the fire was left to burn itself out. It had little fuel left and with the moisture in this area and the large gravel circle it was set in, we expected it to soon die out. That was one of my sleepless nights as energy was running and my job was to witness it with wakefulness. I sat downstairs by the hearth, watching its flames through much of the night. At 5:30 am, I went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and toast when a flame caught my eye outside. I questioned if it was a reflection coming from somewhere yet it was moments before the dawn and darkness cloaked the yard. I opened the back door to get a closer look. The fire was still blazing! The fairies and elementals must have been at work, tending it through the night. A miracle! Magic! A wonderful beginning to this month. I am intending to witness many more this month and those to come.

I have been reading essays and stories by Wendell Berry, a wonderful writer and man. His writing has brought me to tears with its poignancy and truth. In one essay this morning, he is quoting from Norman Maclean’s “A River Runs Through It”.

After a man’s death, his brother and father spoke of him. The father asked the son, “Are you sure you have told me everything that you know about his death?” …I said, “Everything.” “It’s not much, is it?” “No,” I replied, “but you can love completely without complete understanding. If you push me far enough, all I really know is that he was a fine fisherman.”

“You know more than that,” my father said. “He was beautiful.”

Is not this the mystery and magic of life? So much of beauty and truth goes beyond our understanding. We can only stand witness and know that “he was beautiful” and that we can love without understanding.