observations: a summer travel log

Observations: A Summer Travel Log

We are well past the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, but one thing that is enchanting about June in Iceland (and the auspicious time of the Solstice) is how the long days and the absence of dark and starry nights allowed us to experience the land of fire and ice on our flight to Europe.

Icelanders embrace this time of the year with endless outdoor activities, while nature’s majesty brings back to life the vivid colors of the mountains and the exquisite skyscape of the Midnight Sun.  

From our plane, we could see the steam rising from active volcanos and the vast landscape being held by deep hues of purple fields of nootka, or Alaskan lupine.

Iceland’s winters are long and dark, so when the light returns it is a joyous celebration among the local people, and not-so-local folks, too.

Summer Solstice in the land of the Midnight Sun offers hot springs of the fiery volcanoes and tantalizing turquoise waterfalls to explore and ponder.

The Icelanders don’t take their landscape for granted. The same is true in Denmark, our recent destination, a place where they cherish beautiful green spaces and honor the nature beings who live there.   

Copenhagen was our final destination and although the history is rich and the culture steeped in tradition, honesty and happiness, it was the green spaces that deeply called me.  Fredericksburg Garden was my favorite.  The centuries old park is held by old growth trees and a landscape filled with a colony of blue heron resting in large well-constructed nests woven into a platform with a saucer-shaped cup and lined with pine needles, moss, reeds, dry grass, mangrove leaves, and small twigs.  I managed to get a quick glimpse of a hatchlings bluish eyes peeking under the edge of its mother’s wing. 

This experience reminds me of my own backyard on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.  A place where nature is dominant with her lush green forests, cool coastal breezes and the deep fjord estuary known by names such as Puget Sound, Straight of Juan De Fuca and the Salish Sea.

​Where I live, it’s the fawning season.  Oftentimes, I see the black tailed mother’s leading their spotted babies to the best places for sweet red clover, grasses, delicious blackberries, and their all-time favorites:  flowers found in well cared for gardens of the local inhabitants.  There is other wildlife too! I hear a raucous of crows, then I see a raccoon scurrying down a tree after stealing an egg, then a magnificent bald eagle soaring and spiraling overhead while hummingbirds flit from one feeder to the next.

I ponder the thought of how a fish in a fishbowl must feel observing the natural world from the inside of a large, orbed window - not much different from the windows of my home.
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I invite you to explore the programs offered through the Olympic Mountain EarthWisdom Circle (OMEC). Each of these programs encourage a sacred and responsible relationship with the Earth, supporting us to move wakefully through personal and planetary change. 

From my heart to yours, 
Lori Ferry'
OMEC Board Member