John found a tiny half eggshell  soft and delicate white with brown speckles. It was lying just outside the kitchen  door under where the swallows are nesting.

sometime over the equinox weekend while all of us were away the baby swallows had hatched out.

I found another half shell  in the garden and placed it in kingstons hand. He carried it ever so gently for a while when we went for a walk but gradually the excitement of looking up for the mistletoe bird and the bending down to sniff the candle flowers it crumbled disintegrated and fretted out of his clutch.

And he didn’t even notice its departure.

There is much  zooming into the nest  by both parents. At this stage the cheep cheeps are very muted and heard best in the pantry because that is the wall  the nest backs onto.

We watch avidly day by day for the time when the little ones are tall enough to poke their heads over the edge of the nest and look at us.

John and I went out to Gondwana for a retreat on the equinox weekend. Jess  Greg and Kingston and Elsie went to The Farm for an open day of community celebration.

Bec took down the cosmic nesting installation and headed off on a road trip taking the creative journey to the north and then to the south.

Further  west of here, the other side of the tuross, far far from anywhere is the little belimba creek .

It had been many couldn’t remember how many years since we had been here. For a while there  it was a favourite place for us and the kids to camp and do yoga retreats, sweatlodges and medicine journeys.

Three hours after we set out from home we drove in to The Point where the creek does a big loop. it is crystal  clear ,rushing busily over rocks and deep enough for a swim.

a stage and a kitchen have  been permantly set up for community gatherings. Colourful flags fluttered in the breeze welcomed us in.

A tipi and an earthlodge waited for ceremony to begin.

We meditated beside the clear waters of the creek as the sun rose and filtered thru the huge she oaks.

we sat in circles with our wishes  and songs.

we walked the labyrinth lit by candles under a starlit night sky.

we sweated and prayed together.

we drank deep at the well of community and love.

We danced ecstatically to rhythms old and new.

The sounds of didgeridoo drum  flute violin guitar and angelic voices. An eclectic mix of music from pink Floyd  to  spiritual chants.

Adults and children played soccer , laughter was raised, fires kept busy with cheer and hot water.

A  pot of chai that never ran out nurtured our souls.

the goanna cruised thru the camp and  the nesting currawong near the labyrinth watched our every move.

Clouds scattered formed up blew away returned.

This was my spring equinox;

a time to remember and count the many  blessings in my life,

a time to remember and count the gifts given  from mother earth

from water and air

from fire and creator.