Bluestem Meditations 

We meet every Friday at noon for A Quiet Hour in the Sanctuary  

Join us for a period of quiet reflection in nature. An hour of time to pause in our care for the land and to practice presence with one another on it. We attend to this reverent space where each of us is known, valued and cared for. Bring a camp chair, cushion, blanket, yoga mat, or sit on a cedar bench in the Sanctuary. Meander through the pathways in silent meditation. If it is raining we gather under the Barn. The hour is open to the spirit of those gathered in it. 

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July 2023 Bluebird babies

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April 2023 Bluestem Pond

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March 2023 Grassland Burn

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January 2023 Grassland Prairie

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October 2022 Natural Sanctuary

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November 2022 Daisy's burial plot

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October 2022 Trailbuilding by Volunteers

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September 2022 Grassland edge

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June 2022 Moss in the woodlands

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Monitoring the Bluebirds

Eastern Bluebirds typically nest from March till August. Their nests are 1-4 inches tall and made from neatly woven grasses or pine needles. They lay 4-6 powder blue eggs that are 1-4 inches tall. Motivation for monitoring the boxes includes removal of sparrows, starlings, paper wasp nests, and mice. Identifying the species of nesting birds allows the Bluebird society to not only track bluebird populations but also other native bird species. 


Read more by Caroline Ray 

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Present and Future 

As we age, my wife and I have been thinking about our final resting place. For me, traditional end of life alternatives were not appealing. I wanted my body to go back into the cycle of life -- to feed other life. I did not want it pumped with chemicals and buried in an indestructible vessel or burned to add to the growing concern of global warming.  

Read more by Steve Gartrell

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Early Saxifrages 

A rest
Burning of the fields
This darkness
Black ash attracts the sunlight
Awakening green plants below
To sprout and be fed so well 

Read more by Emily Stewart 

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Closing the Circle,
​Healing the Spirit  

As the end of my living experience draws near, what to do?  I am burdened with my experience. Now to move forward, I will need to let go of the personal – both good and bad, to approach the next stage after death.  If I carry the personal, I am burdened with various conceptions drawn from my experience which act as a barrier to the deep, still peace of liberation from the everyday struggles, from the drama.  This peace is the very fabric of the infinite oneness pervading our universe, beyond the orbit of our minds and eternally present.  

Read more by Jeshua Pacifici 

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A Ritual of Remembrance  

We take time aside to hold space together and learn, feel, and pray in Bluestem Conservation Cemetery. We turn to you in prayer, saying Creator and Conservationist, hear our prayer. 

We thank you for the living land we stand on. We build on the wisdom and memories of those who have nurtured this land before us.

Read more by Callie Swain-Fox and Kaley Casenheiser

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In Memory of Daisy  

My graceful gray cat, Daisy, was with me for 18 years. We had a sweet, steadfast relationship and her resilience made me believe she’d always be there. Yet, when her death came, it presented me with an unexpected life passage of my own.

During the past year I began a relationship with Bluestem and its founders ... but it was Daisy who finally connected me to this very special site. 

​Read more by Ina Stern

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Transformational Body Politics  

What can one small person do in a vastly complex seemingly indifferent world? Show up at Bluestem Conservation Cemetery in Cedar Grove NC at 9AM any Friday to be a volunteer trail builder. You'll join six to ten other volunteers and at the end of a three hour playing-in-the-woods session you'll have transformed a rocky, root infested mess of woodland into a smooth, hikeable trail. You get to see the transformation in real time.

​Read more by Dave Deming

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Equinox Musings 

It’s autumn equinox here in the Piedmont. That time when day and night meet in the middle and linger for a moment in equanimity and equilibrium. A pause. A breath, before the descent. Sitting with my feet in the Eno River watching and listening I finally realized why we so often call this season fall. Everything is falling.

​Read more by Lara Struckman

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Returning to the Earth  

It is a beautiful, wet and overcast morning. We listen to our breath flow in and out of our noses and into our bellies. The littlest among us is five years old, and we span three generations of women. This is a powerful place to breathe together, this land transitioning into another life—one that will support human bodies as they transition back to the Earth.

​Read more by Emily Stewart

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Writings on nature and experiences at Bluestem are welcome.
They are reviewed by community members and posted to this page.
​Send submissions to Bluestem Meditations.

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In the Poem Box at Bluestem

America, I Sing Back, Allison Adelle Hedge Coke 
When Great Trees Fall, Maya Angelou
​Gloria Mundi, Michael Kleber-Diggs
In the Fields, Jake Skeets
​June Night, Sara Teasdale 
​Field Mark 6: Love Handle, J. Drew Lanham
Instructions On Not Giving Up, Ada Limón 
Three Times My Life Has Opened, Jane Hirshfield 
A Tribute to John Blackfeather Jeffries
Family Ties, Philip Martz
​Essential Gratitude, Andrea Potos 
The Peace of Wild Things, Wendell Berry 
Excerpt from Who Will Be the Messenger of This Land, Jaki Shelton Green
Talking to Grief, Denise Levertov
The Sensualist, Jamie Hysjulien