Jun14
Posted on Jun 14 by Ruth Davis
I am a hugger. I’ll wrap both of my arms around you and hold us together for several moments in an enveloping embrace so that our hearts have a chance to connect. Even if we’ve just met. And before I let you go, I’ll give you a little squeeze, like an exclamation point at the end of a very important sentence. I especially love to hug women who have a few extra pounds, like me, because it’s soft on soft, like hugging my mom. My friend Deborah gives the best soft on soft hugs that linger, followed by a kiss on my cheek and “Love you, sweetie.” It melts me and fills me every time. When I first moved here, I asked Pam if I could give her a hug. She said yes, but looked very uncomfortable afterwards. So I asked if she was OK, and she said, “Oh yes, I liked it. I’m just not used to it.” I guess there are a lot of people who aren’t huggers. Or they do a half hug with just one arm...
Jun14
Posted on Jun 14 by Ruth Davis
I’ve been studying my Redwood Sky Walk Steward notes to learn more about the redwood trees. To help me retain the information, I thought I’d share some interesting facts about these magnificent trees with you. 1. A redwood’s shaggy bark can be up to a foot thick. It deters fire and insect damage and protects the cambium, the inner living layer of the tree. 2. The oldest trees in Sequoia Park are 600-800 years old. The oldest known coast redwood dates to 480 BCE. 3. Redwoods are social trees, growing in large groups called groves. Redwoods have shallow roots that are rarely more than six feet deep. Roots from adjacent trees fuse together, creating a connected “wood wide web” that helps neighbor trees share resources. 4. The largest redwoods measure nearly 30 feet in diameter at their base. Although ancient redwoods can be more than 350 feet tall, the average canopy height of the trees in Sequoia Park is around 250 feet. 5. Those knobby growths on the trees are burls. Burls are like scar tissue, growing where a tree was heavily damaged. While many species...
Feb19
Posted on Feb 19 by Ruth Davis
There are so many stories and images all around us, of pain, suffering, devastation, death, and worse. I thought you might appreciate a reprieve from all of that with a dose of something that feels good. I hope it brings you a bit of peace, calm, and maybe even a little hope. I attended a gathering last weekend that was advertised as a Community Singing for Solidarity, Resistance and Love. There were almost 100 people in the local Playhouse Theater, sitting in the audience seats, in chairs on the floor, and on the stage. We started with some fun vocal warm-up exercises, playing with our voices and loosening our bodies. Then we stood in a ring of concentric circles on the main floor, closed our eyes, and we each made song sounds, listening to and singing with the sounds around us. I heard high notes and low notes, lines of melody and rhythmic monotones. I started singing a single note on the offbeat, which morphed into two notes and a pattern that I kept repeating. I was aware that I couldn’t...
Feb11
Posted on Feb 11 by Ruth Davis
Click to enjoy some beauty in...
Feb05
Posted on Feb 5 by Ruth Davis
Happy heart month. I hope that, in the midst of everything happening in our country, you are finding ways to stay heart-centered, resilient, empowered. And that you are breathing. Now, more than ever, we need to focus on the people, places, and activities that make us feel safe, grounded, joyful, alive. We need to show up with our unique gifts, and concentrate our energies on kindness, compassion, and love. The more love we can send to ourselves, our friends, our families, and communities, the more love reverberates in the bigger world. Here on the north coast of California, it is officially winter. It’s been raining the last four days, with daytime temperatures warming to about 45°. When I left Phoenix last January, I spent three months at the beach in Morro Bay before following my deepest intuition to come here to Arcata in April, not sure, yet having a deep knowing that this was my new home. I had planned to return to Phoenix in November to pack up and sell the family house. Instead, I...
Dec09
Posted on Dec 9 by Ruth Davis
Happy December! This time of the year is all about the light. Chanukah is called the Festival of Lights, with eight nights of candle lighting to commemorate the miracle of the oil. Kwanzaa is celebrated by lighting seven candles to represent the seven principles. Houses and trees are decked in holiday lights. And Jesus was born under the light of the star of Bethlehem. Everywhere you look, there are candles and fires, beckoning us toward the light and the warmth. But in nature, this is the darkest time of the year. This offers us a beautiful invitation to go inward to tend our own light. If we’re feeling confident, creative, appreciated, it’s pretty easy to tap into our own glowing goodness. We radiate love and compassion, for ourselves and others. And our shining light reflects back to other people, creating an even bigger light. But what about when sadness, grief, frustration, even hopelessness, overwhelm us, and we feel no light. Even if your light is not roaring in radiant flame, it is still burning. It...
