The Most Magnificent Private Concert

As we stood together in silence, complete peacefulness swelled around us like a mist.

In that moment, a red-winged blackbird flew over us and landed directly above on the dock pole. He began chirping his song and as he did the frogs all around us began croaking in chorus, as though the bird had begun conducting the first notes of the elaborate orchestral piece.

Then, in flew the next musical feature, an incredibly majestic crane, who squawked once then flapped herself up into the air from the river bank. Her wings swooping through the air, moved it like a current of water and up into the sky she flew. The crane then paused and danced a pirouette mid-air before landing on the water further out into the Mississippi river edge.

Perhaps she spotted an evening snack, or simply wished to enjoy the depth of water beneath her before returning to nest for the evening.

The very next moment our eyes were drawn back to our own body's proximity as a dragonfly flitted by, it's blue-green iridescence catching the reflecting of the now pink and orange sky. It seemed the air itself was glowing in joy that mirrored the joy within our own spirits.

This musical nature symphony continued on, as the very next moment brought my husband's noticing of a beaver... and then another swimming across the river. They were only observable by their little brown heads and the tiny wakes they left behind them.

The grand finale circled us back around to that of the bullfrog, this time spotting our bass note reverberating friend right beside us amidst the lily pads, grasses, and thick water plants. I found myself grinning in amazement at how many animal friends made their appearance known in such astounding ways, and so near us.

It was as though they saw our peacefulness and welcomed us into their private concert... not just to witness it, but to be a part of it.

Taking their cue I pulled him closer again and began dancing with Adam, swaying back and forth on the dock we've returned to countless times through the last several years to refresh our spirits. Though, this time, we had the opportunity to settle into a deeper level of stillness and peace as our children were enjoying some grandparent time at the fair.

I believe our world has grown so noisy that many of us have lost the language of the wild and free.

The plants and animals, spirits and angels, all speak in a language and vibration that is too often drowned out by electronic buzzes and our own inability to settle without immediate distraction.

I also believe this language is one that children speak fluently, the neurodivergent can pick up on easily, and generations of women and men have been medicated and institutionalized out of speaking. An entire culture of young people here on this land before us were put into "schools" that forbid them from speaking this language.

What exactly is this language? It is one of Nature and Spirit. Of Creativity, of Life, of that which is Mystical and Sacred. What some may call the language of God herself.

And yet, it remains in whispers through the trees and in the melodic hum of the cicadas. It beckons us to return to our peaceful inner knowings, and ability of co-creating alongside the magnificent. It washes our tired spirits clean and clears our mind of worry, reconnecting us to the very essence of who we are here to be.

In the peaceful quiet, the moments of stillness, the inspired movement, the compassionate community of our fellow humans and natural beings, we remember the language.

May we grow more fluent in it together.

Healing & Peace,

Ashley Kay