This is from my journal from my second spiritual pilgrimage to the Black Hills

I'm sitting on the side of a hill overlooking the little valley where the sweat lodge is. 7:30 a.m. or so. The little stream which runs past the lodge is a ribbon of silver in the deep green. This valley is so lush right now. I'm sitting in the rocks among the cacti and tiny, white flowers. Flowers. This hill is like a wildflower mixture from the best florist. Like flowers from every green place in the world were dropped here. Why is there a natural prairie in the middle of these pine forests in this high place? The Lakota creation story is paralell to the Christian one in the sense that when they came out of that little hole in the earth, they walked into Eden. I've been to green, growing places before, but this one is the garden of Eden in the Bible. So peaceful. A bird bluer than any blue I've ever seen just flew by. It is as green as Ireland yet gentler. The breeze is truly God's breath. Truly. The sheer number of birds singing is overwhelming yet there is harmony and the song is peaceful, not the chaotic din I've often heard at other times in other places. The new growth on the cactus is a bright orange. I guess the rabbits I see must be hares because they are HUGE like kangaroos... (Jack rabbits...)

Monday, June 26th 2006