[F]orget the past, put it all away; Turn a brand new page, rescue your being from yesterday; Become a child of the present age, of youth, of wisdom, Never leave this bountiful moment, this eternal day. –Rumi

Craig Morgan Teicher has written a book titled “We Begin in Gladness.” It is about how poets progress and find their voice. Maybe I’ll get it and read it. Maybe the title is all I need hear. Some books are like that. I am quite sure without reading that much of what it says is true of all art making. But I doubt it says everything that needs to be said. Somehow the flight of a sanderling over gulf surf speaks to the point. To know gladness, to hear poetry, to make art, listen to creation.

“Stir up your power…and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us…” So begins my fave Advent prayer. This year it seems we have much to be delivered from…

Back in October, the Northeast Chapter of Louisiana Master Naturalists was hiking a trail along Africa Lake in Tensas River NWR. We were being led by one of our members, who had researched this trail and was teaching us about the flora and fauna we encountered along the way. This hike was her interpretive project, the capstone of our certification process. She was leading us to the conjunction of the lake and its feeder stream. Turning the last bend in the trail as we approached, we were greeted by enormous cypress and tupelo trees, the purple blaze of ironweed flowers,…