Nature Poems from my Solitude Retreat

I recently spent 6 glorious days at a solitude retreat at Cedars of Peace in Nerinx, Kentucky.  This was my 10th retreat in one of the cabins there. Each time, it's a different experience, but all of them, spanning across all four seasons, have included time in nature -- observing, noticing, slowing, wondering, reflecting, connecting... Here are some of my nature-themed poems from my August retreat:

Dewy Spiderweb (8-23-22)

Dew

Ew!

Now I have wet shoes!

Spiderwebs

Blech!

Better knock it down quick!

Yet this morning

I'm seeing the wonder of dew when

Once invisible web designs

are now thinly illumined.

Twenty micro droplets

on an inch of webbing

Thirty ever-widening arcs

in each tiny section

Twenty-one sections

give-or-take a few

all now marvelously highlighted

by the simplicity of dew

Four mini flying bugs

caught while traveling by her

I guess the spider's goal

was for more than me to admire

Swaying with the swing

Strong yet delicate

Even without a photo remembrance

I hope I won't soon forget.

The Trail Behind Me (8-23-22)

I can see her overnight trail

    from this post

    to that plant

    and around a bit

    before making the leap to a sister plant

    and after the frame was in place

    back and forth

    criss-cross again and again

    occasionally adding an anchor for strength

And my day-to-day life

    feels a bit like that spider's 

    A lot of back and forth

    down a little, over a little,

    and back again

    and the same repetitive tasks

    and going through the motions

But what I don't realize

    is that there's a trail behind me

    and that all this back-and-forth

    that seems mundane and repetitive

    is weaving a masterpiece

If I neglect the back and forth,

    the world will miss out

    on the design

    I was designed to contribute.

The Web Doing Its Work (8-23-22)

It's work to weave a spider web

    Busy, busy back and forth

                        over and under

                        in and out

    but now I don't see the spider anywhere

While she rests from her labors,

    her web is working for her

    and it will be worth it

        when she wakes up to a breakfast

            already caught for her

It's work to plant an orchard

    tilling the soil

    planting the seeds

    tending the saplings

    protecting, scaffolding

    watering, watering, watering

Eventually, rest does come

    and the trees continue to grow

        even while the farmer sleeps

    but, unlike the spider's overnight harvest,

        it will take years

            for the farmer to ever taste

                the fruits from his labor

            but when the apples are gathered by the bushel,

                it will be worth it.

It's work to raise a family

    setting routines into place

    responding with grace yet again

    washing the dishes, knowing they will soon by dirty again

    correcting and training in righteousness

    fostering a mutual love among siblings

    allowing more and more responsibilities and independence over time

    teaching them all they need to know to launch successfully

And sometimes the growth is visible

    and sometimes I wonder if it's worth the effort

        but I come to the point

            when I have to step back

                and pray that the web I've created

                    will do what it was meant to do

                    even if I don't see the results overnight

                and that, in all my failings    

                                        and inadequacies,

                    my orchard will bear fruit

                and that, years from now,

                    I will know that all the mundane

                                                        ordinary

                                                        grueling work

                                                I put my hands to today

                                                    was worth it.

Tree Education (8-23-22)

Pre-Covid (and pre-1000 hours outside challenge and pre-Seek app)

    the only tree I could identify by sight

         was a maple

        (because we had two in the front yard of my childhood home)
I'm still quite a novice

    at identifying trees

        but I'm on the path of learning

And in the process

    I've come to love two trees in particular:
        the tulip poplar

        and the sycamore

I became enraptured with the tulip poplar

    when I kept noticing the telltale green, yellow, and orange blossoms

        on the path during a spring hike

        (not realizing at first that they came from above, not below)

    I saw more at Bernheim Forest

        (where another curious hiker found and shared the name with me)

    and there's even one just down the street from me.

And I remember my father-in-law

    supplying the name "sycamore"

        for the stately central tree in our backyard forest

I love the patchwork white, cream, and gray bark

    especially as I sit on the sycamore swing at Cedars of Peace

And now I share my new-found tree love with my boys:
    See that green, yellow, and orange blossom up there?

        That's a tulip poplar!

    See that patchy cream bark?

        That's a sycamore!

And we've felt the poke of holly leaves

    and found geocaches nestled in cedars

    and thrown maple propellers high in the air

    and hunted for acorn caps beneath oaks

My education

    is becoming their education

I don't want them to grow up to be adults

    who know only one tree.

Color Combination (8-26-22)

"I love the combination

    of a bright-blue sky

        over a canopy of lush green.

For me, this color combination

    is Nature at its most idyllic

    and the most relaxing color combination I can imagine."

After reading this,

    I looked up to take in

        that blue-green combination

            in front of me

        but since the sycamore leaves blocked the sky,

    I looked first at the reflection in the lake

And it was there, in the lake mirror,

    that I saw a rainbow!

What?!

There's hasn't been a lick of rain in the sky

    or else I would know to look

Rainbows can be the result of rain + sun

    but they can also be the result of a loving Creator

        longing to showcase His love for me, 

            here on Mary's Lake

The shade

The setting sun

The breeze

The rainbow reflection

    (dare I say, an even better color combination than blue-green)

All gifts

    from You to me

I love You, too :-)