The Gentle Solstice

 

     

     We gathered as the late afternoon of December 20th released its light into the soft hues of evening. The Silent Walk has often been at the end of an intense day, and it takes a few minutes for the buzzing of thoughts to slow down. The tenor of this evening was gentle--cold but no wind, clouds to catch the color, and the steady crunch of our careful steps along the path. 

      Sunday's flooding rain meant we had to reschedule the Walk to the day before the Solstice. While we lost some people, we were happy to welcome several first timers and many returning participants.

 Thank you to everyone who joined us! 

      Participants can share a few words (if they want) about the walk, and those words follow. The photographs are taken by Thom Munterich, and we thank him for his unobtrusive documentation. In combination, words and images suggest what it was like, but nothing compares to going on the walk. Please join us next time!

A perfect time to empty my mind and fill it with the beauty and peace of a silent walk.

Rush hour cares tumbling, rumbling. Water tumbling, rumbling. 

Time pauses. Life goes.

I felt disoriented seeing the sky below the land, a perfect reflection.

Enjoyed listening to my footfalls in the dark

The scary tree

Moonlight was very powerful.

White water ribbons dancing in the moonlight

Loved the symmetry. 

My favorite part is how the time slows.

The smallest shift of light, color, sound marks the moment. 

The cold air smells delicious, clean.

We ended the walk sharing some chocolate, oranges, and our thoughts. Did the holidays offer a lens through which to experience this night or was it the other way around?

My sincere thanks to

Black Rock Forest for supporting the Silent Walks! 

Special thanks to 

Brienne Chiadakis, Susanne Vondrak, and Aaron Culotta.

 Black Rock Forest is a research forest and biological field station. Their mission is to advance scientific understanding of the natural world through research, education, and conservation programs.

Please support their work by becoming a member!

      

 

Longest Day's Journey into Night

 

Elderberry flowers

    During the hours before a walk, I start craving the mental detox, the unknotting of threads that tangle my thoughts throughout the day. Sharing the experience of whatever happens along the path and at the water feels wonderful. Framed as art, we come together, each of us finding an opening to the sounds, smells, tastes, feel, light, and colors of this forest. 

  The evening of June 21st was breezy and clear. After the walk, we shared some chocolate and fruit, and participants wrote a few words for this blog if they chose. These follow with photographs and videos from the Silent Walk photographer, Thom Munterich. 

Many thanks to everyone who participated!

Click photo to enlarge.

One word to describe tonight-gratitude

pale beauty moth

Silence on the hike=all the senses kicking into high gear. 

A thousand shades of green, the smells and songs of the woods

wineberries in sepals

changing light-always wonderful

The diversity of the people matches the diversity of the leaves, the bark, the ground's texture beneath our feet. Our movements become one with the wholeness of nature, the complexity of our interdependence.

knapweed

I feel large and small. I feel calm and connected.

I want to follow the trails off the larger path.

Hearing the forest birds is lovely, different than other places--veery, wood thrush, phoebe, and a tanager. A meditative treat to listen to them talk instead of us.

remarkable

that heavenly cool breeze over the reservoir

sunset peeking through the trees--brilliant orange

the dry spillway looking like an ancient civilization

Beautiful tangerine sunset! I focused on a single dead tree, one flowering bush on the other side of the reservoir, and one lone bullfrog.

Day lingers into night

short video of Aleck Meadow June Solstice Silent Walk

I noticed I missed taking pictures more than talking...

...the wind noise, the tree leaves, birds chasing bugs across the water, straight trees, 

all the water captured by man

pink sky

crescent moon

the silence was just awesome

Nobody swam naked!

Note: Just before we started, we learned that June 21 is National Hike Naked Day.

dead ring-necked snake

The woods are full of life and death.

***

Sincere thanks to the staff at Black Rock Forest, 

especially Brienne Cliadakis, Susanne Vondrak, Aaron Culotta, and Matt Brady.  

This nearly 4000 acre forest is a living laboratory for field-based research and education that advances a scientific understanding of the natural world.  

Become a Friend of the Forest to support their great work!

The next BRF Silent Walk will be in December. Please join us!

The Color and Canopy of May

 

     Even with a late start, we still had plenty of light to guide us through much of the Silent Walk. The noticeable differences since April were twofold. First, the trees had fully leafed out, creating corridors of deep green filtered with the slanting red light of the sunset. Their shadows darkened the forest path, adding a sense of privacy within the canopy. Each time we emerged from the trees the light had changed--from the clarity of a late spring evening to the softened ember glow of sunset to the lost contours of darkness.

     The other noticeable difference signaled changes outside the forest. The coming holiday weekend and the long awaited opportunity for people to travel added airplane and road traffic to the evening sounds. Lucky for us, the frogs, birds and insects made themselves heard.

 

     Thank you to everyone who came out tonight! 

Our walking with deliberate attention to all the forest offers is where the art happens. 

 

     Several participants shared written comments, included below. Thanks to our photographers, Thom and Abby Munterich. Click on a photo to enlarge. 

 

The photographs and videos provide a reminder of what it was like, but nothing compares to being there! Please join us for the final Silent Walk on June 24. Registration is through the Black Rock Forest events page.

*** 

 

 It felt like a meditation and altered my consciousness.  Everything became a work of art, and I loved watching the colors shift and change in the sky.

 

I'll take evening bird and frog song over keening of trains any day----soothes the soul.

***

Profound Experience! Shimmering, perceptual magic!

Sounds and silence

Observing nature in silence was beautiful and peaceful

peaceful  meditative  magical   transition  memories

The most stunning visuals appear dead even though they held the most life

How do you paint a sound? The pink in the sky mirrored in the spillway, like the silence made me see what I wouldn't otherwise see.

I wonder what happened to the duck that walked down the spillway with the other standing guard?

The sounds were amazing! For me, not talking made me see less and hear more.

There is no single haiku

to express the joy

of the wonder of nature

Every hike is unique! This time I saw Venus come into view over the upper reservoir.

***

When the birdsong stopped, the frog-song started!

 

millipede season

 Thanks to the staff of Black Rock Forest for their support of the Silent Walks, especially Brienne Cliadakis, Suzanne Vondrak, Aaron Culotta, and Matt Brady. Support BRF by becoming a member!

 

Interested in what else I have been doing during this residency? Please join me for a virtual Artist's Talk on June 22 at 1pm. Sign up through the Black Rock Forest events page.

 

Pink Moon

 During the second Silent Walk on the Full Moon at Black Rock Forest, the leaves were only just starting to emerge from their buds. April's green was not yet gold, but no worries. The moon was pink.  

   Once in the woods, the trees provided shelter from the chill breeze, and the low sun set their branches on fire. Peepers, a few water thrushes, and one very relaxed duck kept us company. It was an hour of shifting color, from the spectrum sunset to the intense glow of the year's first super moon. By turns their shadows and light marked our path.

Thank you to everyone who walked and witnessed.

The following are optional comments offered by some of the participants along with photographs taken during the walk. These serve as reminders, but nothing beats the actual experience. Join us! Reserve a space in the May 26 Silent Walk through the BRF events page.

 

I was amazed by all the different ways light interacted with the environment. From the sun highlighting the tops of the trees, the light like fireworks on the water, the sunset reflected on the mountains, to that super bright moon! 

Shadbush/Serviceberry blossoms along the path

The sunset to the left and the moonrise to the right--no words

Textured "tree star"

The experience made me feel at one with nature and the group. It made me appreciate the wonder nature provides us and how we have a responsibility to take care of it.

It was a wonderful to take a moment to be inspired and connect with nature and my mind.

 We were alone and together.

Because we were silent, I really noticed the distant highway, birdsong, and the breeze as it approached.

MOON SHADOWS

*** 

 

 

 My sincere thanks once again to the amazing staff at Black Rock Forest, especially Brienne Cliadakis, Susanne Vondrak, Aaron Culotta, and Matt Brady. 

Interested in supporting a nearly 4000 acre living laboratory of research and education? 

 Become a Friend of the Forest.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks as always to the Silent Walks photographer, Thom Munterich. 

 

Silent Walk Reprise in New Paltz-Thursday October 14th

As part of the Hudson Valley Artists 2010: Contemporary Art and Praxis, we are so pleased to lead a reprised Silent Walk on Thursday, October 14th, 2010. The walk will begin at the Sojourner Truth parking lot along the Wallkill Rail Trail on Plains Road (P6 on map) at 5:00pm. Carpooling from the Dorsky will be available at 4:45pm. Please join us and bring a friend! Walkers should dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes. We will walk silently along the trail south to the bridge, enjoy the view for a few minutes, and then return to the parking lot to share some refreshment. It will be dusk. Bring a flashlight if you wish. We will have some extras. All walkers participate at their own risk.

The Final Walk-Faith in What Remains

The night of May 20th offered warm sun, brilliantly blue skies and myriad hues of green that varied from near black to chartreuse. We were delighted to welcome so many first time walkers, especially those who came from far away to participate. Definitely better late than never. For those who have joined in many walks throughout the year, we feel a special fondness. Together we have experienced this mountain, this river and all the variables of weather and people over the past twelve months. Since last June, we crunched through leaves, got lost (briefly), got wet, warmed up, broke rules, slowed down and paid attention in a new way. The walks were an aesthetic full court press. Talk about engagement. The original questions: Who and what is nature? and Who and what makes art? are answered. Here are the closing questions: What is ephemeral? What remains? I believe an experience that develops tendrils of connection--to a moment, to a place and to a community--offers an answer.

The Silent Walks were a wonderful experience. I am grateful to every person whose participation made them happen. Many thanks. Comments from the final walk follow. entering the Quiet Zone Wonderful spring trees. Breeze stirring in the branches Tall, blossoming tree. Birds all around Tweeting a sweet sound But when I came back from the view, there was no song at all. -O. P. age 8 I like the way last year's leaves are crushes into the stones on the path. Bleu Blanc Vert Thank you. This was such an awesome experience on so many levels: smells, sounds, sights, the breeze, the streams. "every moment is made glorious..."- Rumi Bring the walks to Jersey! Make 'em longer! Rock on. Dig the quiet----need more of that. A deeper green surrounded us. The river was streaked with pale blue lines--currents, breezes, wakes, the Shawagunk escarpment distinct in the view. Beautiful. Peace. Feet make too much noise. I wanted to tell the birds to be silent. My camera made too much noise and flash. Follow the yellow hat. Trees! GREAT to finally make it!!

The View

Well, what can I say, I'm sad to see the Silent Walks go...but so glad to have been a part of it. Dappled sunshine, gnats, train horns drifting up from the Hudson. Awesome! Although my first, it was the 12th walk on the 12th night, a celebration of the fulfilled commitment to merge the boundaries of art with the cycles of nature over a year's span of time. Congratulations! So beautiful yet so...sad. Thanks for an experience that will last for years. thinking of the song that has the line "gonna feed my soul where the blacktop ends"

Special thanks to Diane and Martin and Odessa. You and Barbara Gioia get the most walks attended award! We always end the walks with conversation and a bit of refreshment, but this time, we also celebrated with a closing reception at 2 Alice's coffee house.

I cannot overstate the importance of Thom Munterich to this project. Beyond all the beautiful photographs and documentation he has provided,Thom is the only other person who has walked every walk with me. His support, both creative and logistical, has been integral to The Silent Walks. Sincerest thanks.

This mirrors the first video taken last June.

Thanks again to everyone!