an april later

The early anxious pushes of first spring have crescendoed from wood, to bud, to leaf, to enlightenment.  Full expression—unabashed and righteous—everywhere! 

At first spring, the pale baby blue rosemary blossoms stood alone amongst the greenery, and the bees were quick to notice.   An April later, and the heavy, heavy rosemary note is just one of many wafting through the air, strumming melodically at my heart.  Lilac, and lavender, and rose, and fir all billow their inviting scents as I work in the garden while she harvests our salad for dinner.  The smells of this evening have saturated me.  Ribbons of aroma tangle around me and through me, Their scents become emotions and memories that snake up from the ground around my ankles, up my body, and straight to the hairs on the tip of my nose until I find myself swaying softly, side to side, comforted by memories past that are not necessarily my own, yet birthrights to us each none the less—the garden rocks me gently, and I feel grateful as I whistle a song I’ve never heard.  

As I stand still and breathe, the air is overwhelming. 

the bee, the hummingbird and she are all three drunk on the colors of the day—spinning like tops in the garden outside.  Spring fever has struck the area hard, and the days of rosemary’s lone reign are all but forgotten. 

Uninterested in the warm blooded frenzy in the garden out front, the rattlesnake on the rock out back sits tightly coiled away from me as I approach his rocky nest.  We watch each other, suspicious both. 

Finding a rattlesnake nest just feet away from the house is a conflict.  To find one in nature is awe-inspiring.  To find one outside your house usually carries with it prompt recommendations of removal and elimination of the nest.  We are still weighing how to handle this new discovery.  My heart and my gut tell me to have reverence for them, and to respect their space, but my mind can’t help play the tape in my head of a rattlesnake attacking my unknowing dog or visiting friend who is out for a stroll. 

I sat with the snake, and it spoke to me of transformation, of skin shedding, of seasons shifting, and of being reborn.  The snake medicine is pure source medicine, and Their shedding applies to us all.  It is the sacred covenant that all life agreed on at the beginning of time:  everything should always be changing.