Comments on: Into freedom: An essay by Elizabeth R.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:14:09 +0000

Thanks, Val! There is plenty more where that came from. ;)

By: Val K.

Val K. — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:43:32 +0000

This essay has a quality of releasement in it. You can almost feel the power of flight as you read it. Even the games of children can be a release. I have sometimes felt this way. It feels wonderful to fly.

Thank you for sharing this essay, Liz. it’s beautiful.

By: Lora

Lora — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:47:13 +0000

Ah, desert rain. We’ve been getting something close to jungle rains, here. It’s more like trying to walk thru the roar and pressure of a waterfall, but you never quite get to the other side.
I may yet find mushrooms in my hair one of these mornings.
:)

By: Patricia

Patricia — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:07:13 +0000

Elizabeth,

I’ve watched swallows, golden eagles, and a few other birds fly in the rain and wondered what they were feeling. The hummingbirds that come to our feeders sometimes fight driving winds and hard rain to get to the nectar cups. The feathers on the tops of the birds’ heads stand up in spikes.

Have you read Bambi by Felix Salten? If I remember, there’s a scene in there where a young bird is flying and runs into rain (or is it snow?) for the first time. Thinking it can avoid the rain, it tries flying higher. Or something like that. Until another bird tells it that won’t work.

Recently, I have begun to enjoy (again) walking in the rain, especially in a desert canyon, where the sound of the falling rain is compressed and amplified so that it sings a beguiling whiiiiishhh-ing song that sinks deep into you, soothing the soul. And the water popping on my hat brim and striking my jeans. The cooling skin the rain lays down over your own.

Um-um-umm.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:44:31 +0000

I often feel like this when I scooter. I love how the wind rushes through my hair, and the adrenalin that keeps me going down the same hill day after day.

I have thought about flying in the rain, but I really prefer the alternative. ;)

By: Patricia

Patricia — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:31:16 +0000

Lora, I like the incantational nature of the piece: fly, fly, fly!

By: Patricia

Patricia — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:29:35 +0000

Elizabeth,

I really, really like that sentence, “Fly like I mean it.” It strikes a deep chord in me. Thank you for writing it.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to fly in the rain?

By: Lora

Lora — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 15:28:08 +0000

I am amazed at the skillful weaving of mental and physical senses that she uses here. It is an incredibly poetic essay!