Sleeping In The Forest by Mary Oliver

I thought the earth remembered me, she
took me back so tenderly, arranging
her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds. I slept
as never before, a stone
on the riverbed, nothing
between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated
light as moths among the branches
of the perfect trees. All night
I heard the small kingdoms breathing
around me, the insects, and the birds
who do their work in the darkness. All night
I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling
with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.

We as a group of artist mothers from all over the world are making it our priority to turn off the tv/video games so that we can give our children the sacred experience to connect with the fast disappearing natural world. We will freelens our adventures into the wild and share them through this monthly project.

This month we didn't go very far - just into our backyard, into the garden to help Daddy water. It ended up being an hour of fun, of filling cans and watering vegetables, muddy toes and dashing through the vegetable plants. We can hardly wait to be out there harvesting, too. I love that we can go outside our door and be immersed in nature immediately. Since then, the children have discovered how much they love racing through the corn, making little puddles with the hose to stomp around in, stopping to pick ripe strawberries. I am thankful for my husband's gift of gardening to us - the joy we receive from it is unparalleled.

Next up is the incomparable Heather Robinson - click on through to see what these freelensing mamas have been up to this month.

http://heathermrobinsonphotography.com/blog/2017/07/25/into-something-better-july-2017/