Kindred Spirits

Kindred Spirits April 8, 2015

I have a gully. Some people have a forest, I have a gully. It’s only about 7 blocks from my house. The deep gully has houses lining the tops of the sides. People walk, run and bike through it. But it’s the wildest, greenest space that I can get to without driving.

I’ve been needing to get out more. Get offline. Get away from the bills and to-do lists. I’ve been taking the kids for walks up and down it, almost daily. This piece of land and I are taking our relationship to the next level, from mere acquaintances to an actual friendship. I am finding that kindred spirits are everywhere.

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IMG_20150406_134559911_HDRSomeone has turned a tree into a shrine. There is a porcelain doll face that you can just barely see here. There are nooks and crannies filled with pieces of colored glass, sea shells, rocks, and barnacles. My son added offerings: a shell one day and a small mint the next. Below is a hand made addition to the tree.

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A few people have taken chalk (not paint) to the railings. The entire rail reads “anarchy is for lovers”.

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IMG_20150406_135640693My older children, above, play in a stream bed, where about six skunk cabbage plants bloom.

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Other people have left their creative marks in the space as well.

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Humans have left more permanent marks. Below you can see the water pipes that break the canopy in one spot.

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This railing is hard to read here, but it says “Live wild, be free”. Great advice for us all.

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(All of the pictures are from my phone. Sadly, they are more blurry on wordpress, and I can’t size them appropriately on this version, for whatever reason.)


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