yesterday morning, I set off for an early walk with Boo. The plan was to take my camera and take some snaps of the wildlife, but my plans and Mother Nature's did not match. I heard the Bald Eagles but could not see them. I heard the bugle of the Elk  some where off in the forest, it was then that I realized it was time to put my camera away and just connect with the environment.
I made my way to a grove of Cedar trees, the scent of the forest filled my nostrils. I took a deep breath  and looked up to the branches scanning with my eyes. There it was, the over lapping trees formed Fehu the first rune. I chanted it loudly then absorbed its energy into me, then continued to seek and repeat for the other twenty three runes. Once I had inhaled the last rune into my being, I prayed to the spirits around me.
" I see the runes, I sing the runes, I breath the runes, they are inside me, outside me all around me. I am the runes. All Father I am the runes."
I stood in the stance of Tirwaz and chanted my prayers to the ancestors of which I added a new verse honoring the land spirits of this place and thanking me allowing me to dwell in haven, forever how long that time be.
We left the house about midday to go to the store in Astoria. The track from the cabin to the main road is about three miles. Tara and I were talking about all the animals we had seen, about the Porcupine on the bridge and the Owls, the eagles and the chipmunks and that neither of us had seen the otters yet. Today was like the critters were on vacation.
Just as we reach our mailbox at the far end of the track, three large fat otters strolled leisurely across the road. I jumped out the car to take a picture with my phone but dropped it on the floor, where it separated into three separate pieces. By the time I had reassembled it the otters were in a calm pool on the other side, their heads popping out and staring in my direction. As I raised the camera phone in the view, one, two, all three disappeared under the surface. I guess it was not a day for pictures, just for messages.
The message of the otter is the not be so serious, have more FUN and PLAY. Both Tara and I realized that we have not made time for play for some time.