Final Days in Turkey Creek…

My Benedictine practice suggests that I live in the present and with the help of prayer, reflection and yoga I try to keep my mind focused on the here and now.

I believe we are programmed to look forward to things…

Birthdays…

Outings

Re-unions

Events

Holidays

Better times…

As I near the end of my stay with the dogs, Blake and Skye, anticipation flips my stomach like a pancake and I am impatient to get through the days and hours left for me at Turkey Creek.

I risk missing the subtle nuances that brush the surface of passing time.

I gather my consciousness together to notice yellow and black butterflies adorning the fruit trees that edge into the frame of my office window

I strain to hear the pre-historic cry of the Limpkin as he searches for apple snails along the river banks

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I sing songs of joy with the tree frogs on a misty morning

I follow the sun as it casts shadows across the lawn between violent rainstorms

I step carefully around young snails that glide slowly from one grass verge to another, translucent in their delicacy

I listen for the primordial grunts of the alligators as they warn of territorial infractions in the nearby sawgrass

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My mind drowns in restlessness, logging the number of long walks, bike rides, weekends, trips to the store, meals to plan and chapters to write, before I leave…longing for departure yet willing myself to stay and be.

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These last few days at Turkey Creek are bitter sweet, filled at once with excitement and the ache of sadness.

I probably won’t be back to this part of Florida that will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Last year I could not get over my good fortune to have arrived where the countryside, littered with beautiful Brahmans, rolled to meet the horizon and instilled peace and tranquility upon a soul filled with dreams.

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I soaked up the natural ambience and because I didn’t want the stay to end, as there was nowhere to go home to, I dwelt in the moment and was able to savour the passage of time.

Now I am so excited to be going home that I want to pirouette until my head spins and my tongue shouts with joy.

I want to jump over the fences marked ‘no trespassing’ and run until my legs give way, leaping through fields of spider web adorned grasses, my mouth filled with laughter.

I want to fast forward, tripping thoughtlessly over days that could add color to my life.

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I want to see the sun setting over my new land in Texas and gaze at the stars shining big and bright.

But I make myself breathe deeply and notice the palm trees and Spanish moss darken slowly against the backdrop of a Florida pink sun set where I am today,

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because tomorrow will come all too soon.

And if I can stay in the present and lean forward just a little without rushing and embrace my life,

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If I can allow each day to envelop me with its heady fragrance,

I will encounter the imago Dei within and become one with my creator.

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