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reflections at the abbey

the sun's perfect angle at the golden hour

In 2003, I took another trip to Vina, CA at a monastery near Chico called Abbey of New Clairvaux. This was my 2nd trip to the Abbey arriving Friday afternoon, staying in one of the cells, the monks call it, which is quite comfortable with your own private bathroom and air-conditioned room, and leaving by Monday morning to conclude my yearly personal retreat. I usually bring a notebook, books to read (I didn't have my Kindle then) and my DSLR Canon camera.

The Abbey puts you in a reflective mode quite instantly, and because you're around nature (vineyard, thousands of walnut trees, French Plum trees teeming with ripened fruit around August - they declare with utter conviction: "Life is abundant - taste and see!" I surrender with full compliance) and the resident monks, I'm usually taken into a moment of stillness, and two very unusual shows by nature happened - here's the first one!

It was the Sunday afternoon, a scheduled chanting at the church by the monks was up - I'd attended a few times, this time, I chose to go for a walk, with my camera. At this time of the year, the monks irrigate the walnut trees, and it did look like a flooded zone with a few inches of water. As I was walking along the trail, the sun's angle started to diminish during the golden hour, and right there infront of me, the "show" commenced. What was a dark, muddy, wet flood zone turned mirror-like clarity with reflections of the Walnut Tree canopies. I propped my camera on a tripod and started taking shots after shots. These were the two shots I'd taken that afternoon. Time went by. I was completey lost in, captivated by this spectacular show - eventually, the sun set and the reflection of the water started to disappear. When it finally vanished, the church bell rang. I thought, Wow, this one is just for me! What a visual show climaxing with the tune of a perfectly sounding church bell.  The monk must have known, this was the time to ring the bell - not a second too soon or late. He must have known, that he's part of a collaborative show with nature - just for me! I came away with wonderment and amazement - all these because I chose to stop for a moment and be still!

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Jojo Soriano

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