- Naomi Shihab Nye from her poem "Kindness"
This morning I felt sorrow. I drove out to Pt. Reyes Station through sun, fog, sun. Controlled burns added smoke to the air. I saw egrets and a buck. Of course, I had to browse the Pt. Reyes book store. I mainly buy books on Kindle these days as my book shelves are full, but one book leaped into my hand. Seeking the Cave: A Pilgrimage to Cold Mountain by James P. Lenfestey.
I came home with my treasure and opened to these words.
Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,
And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,
To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.
Perhaps you recognize it. It is from the Prologue of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
Below Chaucer's words, a quote by Jane Hirshfield: There is only one way to travel and that is inward.
Today feels like a pilgrimage. I journeyed inward as I traveled up and over the mountain and along the coast. The pain of sorrow is absorbed in an expanding nest of joy. The sun is out and the blood-red moon at rest.