balance
Many years ago, in a big meadow in Central Oregon, I went for a horseback ride. I was fourteen and glad to be out of my parents’ house. I didn’t have anywhere to go, but I wanted to go fast. The evening was cool; the horse was fresh. She thought going fast was a great idea.
As my horse picked up speed and found her rhythm, my body drew in, concentrating toward the horse’s center of gravity. I could feel her lungs moving rhythmically as her hooves beat a faster tempo. Then, to my astonishment, two barn swallows flanked us. In a tag team kind of relay, they took turns diving beneath the belly of the galloping horse. And so the four of us rocketed through the evening until we ran out of meadow. As the world flew by, as the swallows dove and hooves thundered and my heart pounded, we moved together in a bubble of stillness, an organized engagement of symmetry and rhythm.
The experience was exhilarating, but also enlightening. We three species played together spontaneously, with shared goals and understanding. And shared responsibility. continue reading »