Day 1 - 1^st day after Solstice

I woke before Sandy, arose, walked into the woods, found myself surrounded by birdsong. When I returned, she greeted me with exuberance and almost coffee....water on to boil and filters ready to spoon. We discussed the plan, readied our packs, and started walking toward the outcropping where we would sanctify our intentions before heading off in our separate directions. We would return separately each day to leave notice that each was well by leaving some small sign that had not been there previously – some feather or rock or familiar shape.

Raven called me here to this high juniper bower. Robin joined me to remind me of kinship and friendship. Harrier soared high, watching, decrying any intruder. Woodpecker left his artful calling card, depicting the circle I have copied in making my medicine wheel around my camp, asking for help in four different ways as well as four different directions. The voices of flies and bees and the occasional mosquito sing chorus with the wind. I have smudged and spread tobacco and said prayers. Now I sit.

I saw two sparrows mating. The female had nesting material in her beak. The male came down from above and behind, so she presented, leaning forward, tail up, and he jumped on. And again.

I saw a chipmunk in a juniper tree, carrying a seed in its mouth. When he caught my eye, he dropped the seed and scurried away chittering.

I saw another, sitting on a branch in the sunshine, moving its tail with every chitter, easily more than 100-200 tail bobs per minute continuously for several minutes until a magpie flew stealthily into a tree nearby, causing the chipmunk to vacate premises.

Next the robin approached to a branch some 12' away. Another similar but smaller bird flew in to the same branch, but this one had no color on its breast. The robin tried to feed something into its mouth, but the smaller one dropped the food to the ground. The robin flew/hopped straight down to retrieve it and tried again. Another missed exchange. Another retrieval. The third exchange was successful – gulp, swallow, fly away together to find more and try again.

I joined brother chipmunk and sister sparrow to enjoy the last warm rays of the day, soaking them into my night clothes to find the extra heat to warm me through the cold night. I awoke several times, once to see an owl fly in almost to my circle, only to wheel around and return to his perch in a different juniper.