Saturday, October 24, 2015

Sorraias in Autumntime




"Seeing through the mundane and witnessing the sublime is less than an eye-blink away."
      --Bodhidharma


There seem to be certain times of the year when the quality of light and feel of the air make it easier for the human eye to see the sublime present in the mundane.  


The "Super Blood Moon" on the rise over Ravenseyrie


Autumn is most definitely the most audacious season in its ability to captivate our senses with colour...perhaps because we know that the austerity of wintertime and its subtler colour moods are only a moon or two away.  


Ousado (Altamiro x Bella)

The many hues and nuances of the colour grulla never cease to enchant me!  The quality of light and shadow playing upon the autumnal landscape and bodies of the Ravenseyrie Sorraia bachelors creates poetic rhapsodies so beautiful they pain the heart in a most delightful way:
  



Cooler weather and freedom from incessant biting flies has the colts once again energized and engaging in the "Titans Clashing" game.











On cloudy days, the grasses and grullo hair colours look less yellow than when sun-infused:
Ousado (Altamiro x Bella)
Fidalgo (Altamiro x Belina)

Meanwhile, down on the Twinravens range where our mares continue to dwell, autumn (and burr seeds!) finds them in fine form as well:  


Led by Bella, the mares come up for a visit with your authoress


I especially enjoy these two images of full sisters by Altamiro out of Bella:

Pinoteia

Altavida

How lovely and noble they are, even with the adornment of Agrimony burrs knotting up their forelocks!

Esperanda (Altamiro x Ciente) and Zorita (Sovina x Tia)




Bella (Silver Shadow x Miracle)

Mares on the run, with grulla and dried goldenrod colours identical

Mares and Crows 

Altavida comes to say hello


As you have seen, the landscapes up on Gore Bay's East Bluff where Ravenseyrie is and down along the Manitou River in Tehkummah where the mares are presently living on the Twinravens range, no killing frost has yet come.  As I type this entry, autumn grazing remains abundant, unlike last year where at this same time, all the leaves were long gone and the frost had taken hold of things.


One of Ravensyerie's elder Maple tree sentinels, photographed late October 2014

The Ravvenseyrie Maple, tenaciously staying alive in a most inspiring way
late October 2015



I'm at a place in my life where I find I don't fret over what the weather may be, but am able to appreciate whatever the day brings and find beauty in whatever the seasons have to offer as they keep to a course of their own choosing - their own way of unfolding that man's technology cannot rule over.  And that seems most right to me.

"Power Point" rock painting by Lynne Gerard (photo by Mark Seabrook)

Be the wind fierce or fine,
Be the sky near or far,
The Raven worries not for the future
Nor longs for the past...

She takes to flight
Or sits in meditation - depending -
Harmonizing with chaos or tranquility
The Raven is authentic and free,
As are we
If we simply BE.

            --Lynne Gerard