I arrived at Pine Ridge (Wilderness Wind base camp) in the middle of May- a time of settling for me and my co-workers, and as we found out a time of settling and nurturing for the woodland and water creatures living in this place.
After hearing noises under our office floor and glimpsing an adult red fox a few days, we figured out that she had chosen the space under our office as the place for her den. And in this den she had given birth to two kits. In the weeks to come we were given the chance to see the mother and kits interact for survival and play. The mother would bring food for the kits- introducing them to solid food, and she would watch them as they played and explored further and further from the den. During the day the kits would allow us to watch them - though always on edge - ready to run out of harms way. I enjoyed their curiosity and spunk. One time a kit grabbed a rope that was laying on the ground and began to tug it under the office - i was able to grab the other end and we played tug of war for a few minutes. Another time I watched a kit try and drag a piece of birch bark that was bigger than he/she was.
Some days we wouldn't see any of them but we would hear the flapping of ears and a few small barks come from underneath our feet as we worked at the computer or talked over the schedule. They were ever present and I was comforted to know this- also knowing that one day they would go off on their own - and we would live with the memories of their presence.
When we returned from staff trip (7 days on the water) we found out that the mother had been hit by a car. This was hard to find out. What would now happen to the kits? What response should we take - so that the kits would survive? On staff trip one of my fellow staff members had offered a reading that i had been carrying with me - and i continued to carry it with me after i returned to find this beautiful creature dead.
"Who is our neighbor: the Samaritan? the outcast? the enemy? yes, yes, of course. But it is also the whale, the dolphin and the rain forest. Our neighbor is the entire community of life, the entire universe. We must love it all as our self because in fact it is our self."- Brian Patrick
Here my neighbor had been hit by a car - killed because of a choice and because of inattention. Another effect of the speed in which we live. We act out of violence unintended, yet still affective in ways we never know.
Dave and I buried the mother behind the office and after Jenny and I found one of the kits also dead on the road - hit by another car, i buried it by its mother. I visit them a few times a week to burn incense and to offer a prayer. I'm not sure how else i want this to affect my living, but i know it needs to.
In the days following the two deaths - i started painting as a response to the pain and sadness and i share my painting with you. I honor the beauty of these creatures, i celebrate the part they play in our world, and the wisdom they have to offer us, and i leave myself open to the mystery.