Chasing Light, Finding Light - A Solstice Reflection

"Light may be chased and light will be found wherever creativity and soul abound."

Summer Solstice in Nashville was short on sunlight as clouds delivered episodic rains through the day. Yet as I reflected this morning on my yesterday, I realized light was anything but sparse.

After work I wove my way to Jane & Rod's house on Elmington to find soul friend Bernie Ellis sitting on the tailgate of his truck selling his first batch of blueberries! This is our fourth year to enjoy Bernie's berries. The first summer we picked them early on a Saturday morning on his farm in Fly and I returned home to make several jars of jam for the first time. Last summer I went into a berry frenzy of sorts and made blueberry bread, cobbler and thirty something jars of jam dispersed over the year to family, friends and self. In addition getting Bernie's first bunch of beets, made me nearly as happy as the kid in "The Christmas Story" who finally gets his coveted Red Rider bb gun.

I then made my way to Centennial Park where I found even in dicey weather the Nashville Symphony's conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, President Alan Valentine and the symphonies Brass Quintet performing and selling the symphony's just released cd "Chasing Light." I especially wanted to share with the conductor what the symphonies music had meant to me. In his comments to those assembled, Conductor Guerrero said, "Music is not just to be listened to but to be experienced."

This was one of the gifts our symphony gifted me with this year, the experience of feeling classical music, feeling it in my body, heart and soul.

Lastly I nabbed Jerry just home from work and went to the LeQuire Gallery for a summer opening of "The Stable" works from various artists represented by the gallery. Alan and Andree have created a storehouse of light in their gallery on Charlotte. (Cllick HERE for a complete listing of summer events and classes.) Sculpture, paintings, block prints and more shine with creativity offering inspiration.

Turning out of the gallery parking lot, the setting sun painted swaths of pink across the west bringing to a close the longest day of the year. We turned into a nearby empty lot and stopped to view Nature's art as "Chasing Light" played.

On the cd I purchased, Conductor Guerrero had written "Dawn, Keep chasing the light." On this Solstice evening I literally did that very thing driving about town surprisingly not entangled by traffic but with ease chasing the light and finding light, the light of food, music, art and the setting sun itself.

Now on this day after Solstice, seconds of light drift away day by day as dark gradually returns. Yesterday's experience of light despite clouds will remind me in winter's short days that experiences of light are anything but sparse. Even in the dark, light may be chased and light will be found wherever creativity and soul abound.

-Dawn, The Good News Muse, 22 June 2011

The symphony performs a free concert next Tuesday at 7:30 at Centennial Park. Click HERE for info.