Moments in the Park
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Celebrating wood, wind, and words
​in St. Paul, Minnesota

What are Moments in the Park?
Moments in the park capture the essence of a sight, sound, scent, or sensation.
Moments are specific to a particular place and time. They often relate to the weather - wind, rain, snow, clouds - or seasonal changes in plants or animals - new leaves appearing, flowers blooming, birds singing.
Many of my moments are found in my local city park. But a "park" can be anywhere something catches your attention, your awareness, your imagination. I have found moments in the median of busy roads while running errands, in the play of light on the bathroom wall, and from the windows of airplanes.
The practice of being open to moments, of observing the particular details of a place and noticing changes from day to day and month to month, is a way of being mindful and present, of engaging with and appreciating the natural world wherever you happen to be.
Share Your Moments

Moment: June 15, 2019, 7:15 a.m.

6/15/2019

1 Comment

 
Like a nearly-forgotten snow flurry, now graced with the golden glow of summer, a dusting of fine citron-yellow locust flowers records the footprints of passing walkers.
Horton Park
Image by ElisaRiva from Pixabay
1 Comment

Moment: June 1, 2019, 7:30 a.m.

6/1/2019

1 Comment

 
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​Like a Maypole being wrapped in a rainbow, I stand beneath locust trees alive with a multitude of Cedar Waxwings, feeling myself entwined in ribbons of flight.






Horton Park

Photo by Tracy Kugler
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Moment: May 30, 2019, 6:15 a.m.

5/30/2019

0 Comments

 
Trees' leafy mantles, extensions of the earth rising up to meet the sky, enfold the path I walk, so I feel comfortably wrapped in a warm, green nest.
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Horton Park

Photo by Tracy Kugler
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A Prayer for Creation

5/10/2019

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Dear Creator,
Let us open our eyes to the tears in the fabric of your creation and the suffering of our neighbors - human and more-than-human - caused by the way we live.

Dear Teacher,

Let us open our minds to see the connections between ever more destructive disasters and the economic and power structures that drive them.
​

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Image by Peter Lutz from Pixabay

Dear Life-Giver,
Let us open our imaginations to the possibilities of abundant life that could be realized by living together in a new way.

Dear Father-Mother,
Let us open our hearts to our brothers and sisters - Anishinaabe and Dakota, Mozambican and Syrian, monarch and red-tailed hawk, lady slipper and white pine - so that we may live in thriving community with them as you intended.
Written for the Integrity of Creation service
April 28, 2019
St. Paul's United Church of Christ
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Moment: May 10, 2019, 4:00 p.m.

5/10/2019

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With his crisp black-and-white checks and staccato rat-tat-tat, a woodpecker is as formal and precise as a mathematical proof, adding a flourish of elegance, as he swoops off in graceful flight.



Hamline Ave

Image by Jennifer Beebe from Pixabay
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Rainbow of Spring

5/6/2019

1 Comment

 
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Sensuous red tulip

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​Dainty orange butterfly

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​
​Flashy yellow goldfinch

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​
Fresh green leaves

and
​
Clear blue sky

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​Regal purple irises

Goldfinch image by Peggy Dyar from Pixabay.
All other photos by Tracy Kugler
1 Comment

Moment: May 1, 2019, 6:00 a.m.

5/1/2019

0 Comments

 
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​Aspen and lilac, cherry and apple, even oak and gingko have all begun to unfurl. Only the locust still slumbers, bare branches leaving space to spot the sparrows.

Seminary Ave.                              Photo by Tracy Kugler
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Moments: October 2018

5/1/2019

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Oct. 1, 4:15 p.m.
In the mind of a tree, a tiny bird flits among the leaves, an idea floating just on the edge of thought, then darts away, too quick to grasp.
Horton Park

​Oct. 12
, 4:30 p.m.
Sun-gilded lakes float across a shining plane toward a horizon obscured in misty glare.
Taking off from Minneapolis airport

​



​Oct. 15
, 12:00 p.m.
Falling birch leaves flicker and glow; gilded angel feathers drifting down to bless sacred earth in a forest temple more glorious than any crafted by human hands.

​Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, Helsinki, Finland
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​Oct. 21
, 8:00 a.m.
A deep freeze has made warm golden leaves suddenly unfashionable, and they drop from sugar maples in glinting flurries.
Horton Park
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Moment: Apr. 20, 7:30 a.m.

4/20/2019

1 Comment

 
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​Gray and drooping, Aspen flowers are not traditionally considered beautiful. But then they catch the early morning light, turning the tree into a glorious chandelier, and become sublime.





​Horton Park

Photo by Tracy Kugler
1 Comment

Moments: September 2018

4/7/2019

0 Comments

 
Sept. 6, 5:30 a.m.
Like a hand cupping a beloved face, a bright crescent holds the round moon.
Horton Park

​Sept. 8
, 4:45 p.m.
As a lion proudly displays the fullness of his mane, a large ash tree tosses its crowning leaves in the breeze.
Horton Park

​Sept. 13
, 4:45 p.m.
​Ashes smolder with patches of dull red, while a ginkgo bursts into bright yellow flame.
Horton Park

Sept. 24, 6:30 a.m.
​On the verge of morning, white pines offer their boughs as cushioned shelves on which to store silvery moonlight.
Horton Park
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    Tracy Kugler

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