-
Peonies and Me: Planted, Blooming, Pruned, Transplanted
Planted I ran wild, along with my siblings, on the two acres that felt like an estate. I always loved the visits we’d take to our grandparents a few hours up north, nestled among tall trees in Pennsylvania. Those were formative years, when you have no sense of the wider world or troubles out there,…
-
For the Grievers at Christmas
These are the days with the least light. You feel it, don’t you? It’s not just a lack of sunshine, it’s the darkness that’s settled deep in your bones. Maybe you’re not at the center of some sadness, but you’re holding the hurt of another you love, and we just wish this pain would all…
-
A Field Path Through Burtigny
Glass doors open to a pebblestone terrace, and a path below that disappears into the horizon through fields and pasture. One of August’s last suns has long set, darkening the sky, like indigo ink spilling across a nighttime canvas. Humble prayers float away to the brightening stars; hopeful yellow splashes of color, flung into the…
-
Summer of Roses
It started in Maythe ruby red rosesdelicately lush on a bush in bloom, and each morning I’d walkclose to their color, crossing the street to come in to their presence because that’s what beauty doesbeckoning proximitywith peace that magnetizeswelcoming a pause for pleasure and I lean indrawn to aromatic airdelighting in loveliness that letsme forget…
-
Letting Light Lead
I walk the shoreline with osprey chattering and a heron stealthily searching for dinner up ahead, hoping Hunter doesn’t disturb her. The late August sunshine wraps me in warmth, sparking an incandescent joy. Tonight we’re traipsing through high-tide and scrambling over downed trees, but the previous evening, I was far from the shore, in the…
-
Let’s All Be A Little Like the Flowers
Flowers fill me. Their beauty and fragrance fill me with peace and joy. So I keep seeking flowers. And oh how I have found them anew this spring, lifting my soul from winter’s clutch to a world again of color, hope, and becoming. I could get technical and talk about the nervous system and how calming they…
-
The Bluebells, My Body, and Healing
Nodding to the early morning fisherman, I cross the bridge over Deer Creek to find the well-trod path along the Susquehanna River. Pastels have started to fill the sky, as first light has arrived and I check my phone to count the minutes to sunrise. I mentally run through the years I’ve done this (way…
-
Cherry Blossom Beauty and Rebuilding Bridges
Blustery March winds whipped as I wound my way along the path of the old fort on the Patapsco River. A seagull bobbed ahead of me in the water, as I approached the grove of flowering trees – the treasured cherry blossoms. Every year I try to make an annual trek to Fort McHenry National…
-
Looking for Light
I wasn’t prepared for a hike in my dress coat and boots. But I was in the neighborhood of my favorite park and needed a dose of nature after the disappointing rain all weekend. Wrapping my coat more closely around me, my hair swirling in the wind — I wished I had a hat and…
-
Into the Unknown
2024. A new year is ahead. Twelve months — and 366 days (it’s a leap year!). With the calendar turning to January, it can be a little like stepping into the fog of the unknown… For all of my nature travels and beauty seeking in 2023, I think this moment in the fog on the…
Bethany Peck
Reflections on Life, Faith, and Beauty