QueenMab Contemplates...: At Marianna's: Finding a Wild Paradise within and all around

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

At Marianna's: Finding a Wild Paradise within and all around

I had the overwhelming pleasure of traveling up north last weekend to spend time with my beloved Hungarian Fire Fighting Friend: Ms. Marianna. The following is an excerpt from my journal as I woke and wrote on Saturday morning. Accompanying the entry are photos of the beautiful, remote acreage she owns on the Snake River, near Isle, MN.

Saturday, July 7, 2007:

Visiting Marianna's paradise, is journeying into the physical landscape that seems to mirror my own interior wild. These rock flowers, this roped off sanctuary, this shade garden, this space for lounging, this shrine to a beloved who has passed.

I know this land. I know the effort and energy it requires to maintain it. I observe Marianna, in her exercise gear, having had her coffee, she vacuums. She washes. She makes the dish-doing an artform: What all can she cram/ balance into one tin container where the laundered pottery is stacked in perfection?

Yes. Here: everything is artform. The ground covering planted beneath the swing. When you rub your hand or bare feet over it, a sweet perfume is released. The home brewed beer. The cajun-spiced-fish fried in the-home-brew-beer-batter!

Where is each of these locations in my own being? Can I refer to the garden of my heart? The shrine of loss and love wrapping round my lungs? The hammock in my restful, but awake mind? The patio eyes and lips where exposure, sun, is had, received.

Here: the birds can be heard. Constant music it is. The divine.

I am happy here.

She knows my gratitude for this retreat and mini-vacation. When you see her, just ask!

Love,

Melissa