Oh womyn, my womyn, if only..

...we had been spending the last century and a half gathering together to figure out how we will have peace in our world; if only we had heeded Julia Ward Howe's call for us...

I suppose it is telling that today, on this day that has been so stolen from us and twisted into some commercialized event of something we should do EVERY DAY instead of once in 365 days – the honoring of our mothers – when instead it began as the call empowering womyn to leave home (as men desert home at the call for war) to rise with the knowledge that we can and must bring peace to our earth, that on my early morning hike through the woods 6000 feet above sea level in the midst of glorious pines and cedars, icy running brooks, blue jays and robins, my path was crossed by both a mother and baby bear, and a mother and baby deer.

The baby deer (i no fawn) had only faded tell-tale signs of spots and, ears pricked horizontal to the ground, muscles taut but still, after staring at me for several minutes, walked slowly up the hill, hiding and peeking out occasionally from huge stately trunks of pines. Then I noticed she was approaching her mom whose stance the baby had been mimicking. You'll see below I took the pic when she paused & they were about 3 feet apart. What I didn't capture was the baby going up to her mom and them sweetly kissing!

On the down hill part of my hike, I saw a beautiful chestnut brown bear passing across the path in front of me. At first she didn't see me, then suddenly, one paw beginning her climb up the mountain, she stopped and swung her head and then her whole body in my direction. Even though I was shrinking inside I reminded myself to swell up and stand tall - and very, very, very still. We stared at each other & she looked so small I thought she might be a young teen so I went on even higher alert, looking for the mom. After a few moments, she decided to continue up the hill. I still waited just in case - and sure enough up from the gully springs a little latte colored cub, never once looking in my direction, but sniffing all around, her little body just joyful as she bounce after her mom!

I still waited just in case there was another cub - plus I couldn't see how far up the hill they had journeyed.

And I remember here in the crisp calm and stunning beauty, the "cry goes up from the bosom of the Mother Earth to join ours: DISARM DISARM"