By Lisa Scandrette —
My feet tread happily over the rocky path, my lungs expanding with fresh mountain air. Each step reveals a new rugged wonder to my eyes as we walk down this path for the first time. Though my schedule has been full of people and events before coming to Ogwen Valley, my mind slows down and I become aware of my place in the face of the magnificent landscape before me. My thoughts and concerns shrink for the moment, when placed in the context of this vast, ancient place. I become present to this moment and to the Creator who designed these mountains, this valley, and me. I am joyfully lost in this place where divine and the tangible reverberate, content to wander in silence and awe.
Accompanying me are Black Welsh cattle, grazing and resting in the sunny meadows, and Welsh Mountain sheep wandering nimbly through the hills. It is spring, and there are lambs. One lamb wanders near to me in the innocence of youth, and her mother dislikes her offspring’s proximity to me. They begin an urgent bleating conversation to find one another. I watch quietly until they make their way further up the rocks. At the sight of the sheep, my imagination engages—is their wool soft? What could it make? Who are the people who care for them? For how many generations has this flock grazed these mountains? What is their history?
As we round the lake, my husband, Mark, points out bits of wool clinging to the heather and grasses along the way. I delight, as I am a knitter and a spinner of yarn; I am one who takes creation, holds it in my hands, and further forms it into new items, extensions of their beginnings. A treasure hunt begins as I tuck fingerfuls of fresh wool into my bag. It smells sheepy and earthy, and its lanolin soaks into my hands. I wander back, on and off the path, following bits of wool. By the end of our hike, I have a ziplock bag full of woolly goodness.
This wool holds for me the beauty, wonder and memory of this place and this day. When I wash it and comb it and spin it, I will recall the Creator’s care in making this place of water, rock, earth, sky and wool. I will be reminded that I belong in this world. I create because I am made in the image of a Creator and creating is an act that is faithful to who I am. And the work of my hands with this wool will be an extension of the Creator’s hands, continuing the thread of Creation. We will be co-creators of beauty. And I will inhabit my place in this ancient, vast creation.
Where do you find yourself inspired to co-create? Is it growing things in the garden? Creating food from the earth’s abundance in this season? Painting a landscape? Composing a poem? Where does the divine and the tangible reverberate for you? This season, I invite you into the wonder and beauty. Breathe deep, slow down, connect with your Creator and enter into co-creation.