I used to ride my horse through the vineyards of the Napa Valley and the hills surrounding them.  I would let him amble along on a loose rein. The quiet gracefulness of his step, the soft rhythm of his body moving, and his hooves on the earth, lulled me onto a moving meditation.  I felt myself as an extension of him.  From that vantage point of serenity I was able to observe the nature around me as though I weren’t a human invading the space.  We once walked within a few feet of a Red Tail Hawk perched at the end of a row of grapevines.  He was not fazed by the passing horse; and, since I was calmly moving along with it, the hawk did not mind me either.  Over time we saw many deer, a fox, ans a few river otters when we’d head down to the open sandy places along the Napa River.

I am reminded of that peacefulness and the feeling of melding into nature as I sit here in the air chair on the deck in the Pacific Northwest.  As I am floating in the breezes the winds through the surrounding Cedar trees give background music for the songs of the various birds.  The Hummingbirds hover quite close to me as they fly in to feast on the various flowers in pots on the deck.  They are not bothered by my being here.  I am still and quiet; I am just a part of the chair that moves slowly with the rhythm of the breeze.