by Letha Kiddie
The Sunburst Annual Cookie Baking and Craft Making Event took place on a rainy Saturday in early December. This has been a Sunburst tradition for many years, a time to gather in celebration of the upcoming holidays, to decorate the beautiful Chakra Christmas tree (also a Sunburst tradition), and share in a potluck dinner. Many delectable desserts are baked and decorated to be served over the upcoming Sunburst holiday events. Stay tuned!
Throughout the ages humans have reverently noted the celestial movements of the Sun, planets and stars. Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, is a celebrated event in numerous religions and cultures. This beginning of a solar year, the increase of the light, was the original New Year.
Sunburst Sanctuary chooses the Saturday closest to the winter solstice for a celebration of the return of solar light and the lengthening of day, much like ancient peoples. In the afternoon, the temple is open for a six-hour silent meditation and prayer, with a chime announcing the start and end of each hour when meditators can come and go as they like. An evening group dinner allows us the opportunity to reunite with friends new and old, after this quiet day of reflection.
After dark, luminaria brighten the path through Sunburst’s labyrinth, inviting an awe-filled journey around circuits of potential self-discovery. This walk can offer an experience of mental, emotional and spiritual “reset” as one travels to the center point and back. The center point represents one’s innermost being, so the path is a journey inward to reconnect with soul, and with purpose. The journey outward represents our intention to emerge anew into the world, perhaps with new inspiration, and new resolve.
For more information on Sunburst’s upcoming Winter Solstice celebration, click here.
By Dawn King
Each morning brings a new opportunity to engage with Life. At Sunburst Sanctuary, we generally start the day in group meditation at the Temple, with residents and visitors (who are camping) in attendance. Most mornings find my husband, Al, and I joining in.
We live nearby on Sunburst’s large property, which is also a wildlife sanctuary. Because deer would eat all the landscaping, some yards and the Temple/Lodge area are fenced. Most mornings we walk to and from group meditations, taking a longer-than-necessary rout by staying on the all-weather road. In this way, we begin our day with a beneficial walk immersed in Nature.
Some mornings are quiet with fog shrouding the surrounding hills. But some days reveal the wild animals with whom we share this land. A recent November day was particularly spectacular.
Just beyond our yard, a flock of noisy turkey hens pecked through the numerous fallen leaves. They called to each other; some were up the hill, some at the edge of the field. A few flew over a fence, and into a neighboring yard. Al and I walked on.
Not far from home, we saw black shapes moving in the big field. These soon turned and ran on—wild pigs in their usual trek toward the neighboring property. Next there were grazing mule deer, often curious spectators to our daily walks. While eating, walking, or resting, they watch us off and on, and keep their distance. Most of them already know us as harmless passersby.
After morning meditation and during our walk home, normally there are fewer wild creatures to see, but this day was different. Right in the Lodge gardens, the whole flock of turkey hens had gathered. We were nearly stepping over them to make our way out of the side gate toward the campground. That was certainly unusual.
In another two minutes we were midway down the main road, and noticing a half-dozen deer running full tilt toward the Lodge. This was strange. We marveled at their graceful giant leaps, as though they had springs on their feet—Boing! Boing! Boing!—resembling the agile bounding of kangaroos. I wished my feet and legs were as springy.
Now they were turning to cross the road on either side of us. This was all taking place very quickly. Now we saw the reason for their flight. A beautiful, darkly marked coyote was tearing across the field in full pursuit. He didn’t even see Al and I; his gaze was fixed on the deer.
The coyote raced far enough behind, that I couldn’t imagine he or she would catch the deer. I said as much to Al, and he responded, “Maybe there’s more coyotes ahead laying in ambush.” Wow! Some wild drama was playing out before us, whatever the outcome would be.
Needing to walk on home, we imagined the deer got away; in fact I think I’ve seen the same group since then. Every day isn’t like this. Some days are so quiet you might be startled by a bird pecking in search of an insect, or a lizard scurrying away.
Most mornings we walk silently through the mist, or the breathtaking beauty of sunrise, lost in our own thoughts, or intensely engrossed in the joy of being immersed in Nature. If you would like to experience the wild beauty of a retreat at Sunburst Sanctuary, visit our “Upcoming” page sunburst.org/events for opportunities, or give the office a call.
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By Al King
In my previous blog entry, I described the Sunburst western bluebird program. At that time I had just repaired and cleaned the nest boxes. Next, I put up one more box making a total of nine nest boxes.
Spring is a very busy time for me here at the Sanctuary. In previous years I had not managed to monitor all the boxes. This year I did look into four of them during the nesting season. One of these was near my house, so I made the time to take some photographs inside that box.
On May fourth there were five eggs in the nest. Checking the box again on May 17th, I found the eggs had hatched—probably a week or so before— and the young birds were growing feathers. The birds were larger and more developed each time I looked in (May 20 and May 24). On May 28th I saw one of the babies looking out the door of the box. It was only a few more days until the nest box was empty. We are now seeing more bluebirds in our neighborhood.
It’s wonderful to see all the insect-eating bluebirds here at the Sanctuary. Of the four boxes I checked during nesting time this year, they all had babies. Three of these were the bluebirds that we had put the nest boxes out for. The last one I checked was another species of insect-eating bird. Keep an eye out for my next blog post with the description and photos of the unexpected parents and babies.
One of the situations that seems to be part of agricultural ventures, is crop damage due to insects. Those of us who are attempting to use more natural agricultural systems are always looking for natural ways to reduce crop loss. Some species of birds have diets that consist almost entirely of insects and spiders. The question then becomes how to attract the insect eating birds to our agricultural areas.
Western Bluebirds are one of the species of birds whose diets are primarily insects and spiders. They are cavity nesters, using a hollow in a tree for example. In order to increase the numbers of bluebirds, one can increase the opportunities for nesting by providing more cavities for them to nest in. This can be accomplished by providing nest boxes. Those who have studied bluebird nesting have come up with specific dimensions, entrance hole size, and recommendations for placement and orientation of the nest boxes. Nest boxes that conform to these recommendations, optimize the chance of the birds using them and successfully rearing young birds.
Some years ago, I was approached by a gentleman who wanted to place bluebird nest boxes around our agricultural fields. He felt passionate about the fact that increasing the bluebird population would reduce the insect populations, and consequently reduce the need for other insect control measures.
We welcomed his offer and he placed a number of nest boxes, which he had made. He monitored the success of the blue bird nesting and subsequent maturation of the young birds. He later moved away, but left the nest boxes. I saw this program as beneficial to the property as well as an opportunity to experience this wonderful aspect of the natural world, so I took over the annual cleaning and maintenance of the nest boxes.
At present, we have eight active nest boxes at the sanctuary. They are cleaned and repaired each March. In April and May the bluebirds are courting, scouting for nesting opportunities, laying eggs, brooding and caring for their young. Observing these beautiful birds throughout the year is a joy. Knowing that I have had a hand in increasing their nesting opportunities is also a joy.