Yatra in Lawson - coming up

I'm really looking forward to leading the yatra next weekend in north Lawson. I've been remembering some of the walks I've already taken there, and the haikus I've written. The archaeologist and beloved local, Father Eugene Stockton says that the mid-mountains are the negotiated territory for indigenous peoples, the place where tribes came together and meetings and ceremony took place.

The sacred mountain
sits with us too
not so far away

I've done quite a few walks in the area now. This walk /bike ride took place in spring.

In a cloud

of yellow petals and

his unkind words

 I did a reccie here with my friend Kate in late summer this year. The constant rain of summer had made huge potholes, rampant growth, soggy ground, brilliant flowers,   ... and..

Hundreds of frogs

croak an ode

to La Nina

My thanks to Kate, Maria, and Sue for being my buddie while I look around for the best routes.

A very suitable shape of puddle for a reccie on Australia Day

Straya day song

by lyrebirds and treecreepers - 

"Rain? What rain?"

  I also wrote this haiku on a reccie with Kate, and I put it on the flyer because it illustrates what a yatra is all about:


Drunken old trig
a pile of stones 
steadying it


When we pay attention to each step, or bring our attention back to the simple actions of the body moving along a track, it is like placing a stone around that trig. It is steadying. We are not so caught up by the endless stream of  thoughts and feelings. Sometimes when we're very caught up in that stream, it is like being drunk - pulled off balance, swaying. When we inhabit the present fully with whatever is in it, even if it is hurtful words, that is living fully. We're not captured by a desire to fantasize something nicer, for instance. So as those humble feet of ours on Saturday connect with the earth, we'll build a more solid foundation for living an authentic life.