Day 15: Water Blessings

This post is dedicated to the river, to the fat flow of it, to the banks that hold it even after rains and to its cold welcome. Despite my 'getting in face', there's a bliss unlike any other about being received by this moving entity. It's a gift. It feels like coming home. 

Thank you SO MUCH, Lindsey, for making this your
Facebook cover photo. No, REALLY. 

I always forget to ask permission. My lovely friend Rina Golan teaches that you should always ask the water spirits for their blessing before stepping in, and in return they will carry away anything you don't need. 

Another lovely friend, Bridget Quinn, who visited me in London and came for a dip in the Ladies' Pond, said you must always put your head under, so the water can cleanse your hair and take away unwanted energies. We decided against today. The river was dark with field fun-off. Yesterday's rain was heavy. 

Checking on the water's roar

We were blessed with dancing raindrops and a distinctly yellowy, uplifting quality to the bright sunlight. It caught the contours of every delicate drop. It lit the leaves and made rainbows in the sky. 

After, a leafy walk with patient dogs, their (very pleasing) bodies alert with the smells of rabbits, tantalising pheasants just out of sight, but well within the reach of a nose and all kinds of concoctions carried on the wind, maybe miles away. 

If I may say so, there is only one way to start the day, and muddy or clear, temperate or fucking freezing, the water is that way.