We have whispered our wishes into the ear of the brass mouse in Klaipeda, rubbed the wishing nose of the brass animal sculptures in Old Town Riga, and crossed the lovers bridges in every town where keys are thrown into the water for all time to lock in Love. Some lit candles to send prayers aloft from churches of varying creeds in Talinn or in Curonia.
So in Lithuania where the Christian church is much younger than the pagan past, we retreat to the lakes and forests of Austaitija, a verdant temple to the spirit life of rocks and water and trees.
Our double kayaks wind through bowered rivers, into the reeds, and onto a lake. As the channel broadens to a 30 ft deep lake, thunder rolls and lightning sparks over the far hills. But we get safe passage.
One photo reveals a luminant purple light topped by orange where the water meets the trees. As the full moon rises above the marsh grasses, Bill walks to the low, wooden dock as white light dances in different spots and a traveling orb hovers above his head.
Two barking dogs are chained with heavy links, facing each other on neighboring properties with a road between. The camera fails to focus and the dogs’ eyes show Red Eye in the camera’s viewfinder, despite new technology that eliminates red eye. Purple wildflowers have similar power to thwart the focus of the camera. Each attempt reflects a white light, blurring the flower while allowing the surrounding grasses to stay in sharp focus.
We pick up a stone to bring to the top of wishing hill. We climb 400 feet from the lake shore, up a steep staircase, to a hilltop that has a single wishing tree anchoring a 360 degree view of six lakes and their forests. A mound of all size stones surrounds the base of the single tree at the summit.
Each stone represents the wish of its bearer. We each add our stone.
The air invigorates. We breathe.
notnyet 