The Free Radical

Grouse has been dancing her energy all over the place! Her specialties are rhythm, timing, and creating the sacred space for new imaginings to become new realities… they just have to be danced into creation. Grouse shows us how.

I remember the first time I encountered Grouse out in these forests. I didn’t see her; I only heard her in the distance… as a perplexing mystery. Imagine you’re standing in the Canadian wilds and suddenly you hear the distant but distinct sound of a large gorilla beating its chest. You’re pretty sure that Canadian gorillas are exceedingly rare… but what else could it be? It’s actually the sound of Grouse’s rapidly beating wings for display and courtship purposes… no gorillas required.

Today Grouse is joyous. She is perfectly in the mood to dance. She pantomimes an unabashed excitement for novel opportunities.

Speaking to me directly, she damn near shouted “Put on your dancing shoes!” For more than a week I had been forced to wear my Nike runners on my daily excursions, as my five-fingered Vibrams had just worn out and I couldn’t find the time to get into town to pick up a new pair. I find that walking around in Nikes is like trying to balance on a couple of inflexible dinner plates. It’s also impossible to walk silently in those damned shoes! Now I’ve got my new pair of Vibrams.

Yeah, I’m ready to dance with my new partner– this forest– according to the expert instruction given by Grouse. I intend to dance something good for us all…