Beneath the Tall Black Door: Four Seasons on River Street

By Jacqueline K. Kelsey Ph.D.

Learn to hear and see answers from nature. On the front porch of Kathryn and Johns Northwoods home along the river, seven stories join the worlds of home and wild nature beneath the tall black door. Together the stories illustrate the healing touch of nature in our affairs when we learn to imagine life as children do.



John and Kathryn draw animals near to learn about finding joy in grief, balancing overwork with leisure, saying No to negative influences, having faith to heal, and confirming intuitive leads for career changes. Readers can recognize their connections with nature
and become inspired to right their affairs when they pay attention to their hearts desires for improving their lives.



Story events transform into everyday miracles which guide the characters lives and the readers.



Beneath the Tall Black Door represents a portal respectfully allowing nature to reveal connections and solutions to the issues we currently face.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 7, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452070414

Jacqueline K. Kelsey Ph.D.

Jacqueline K. Kelsey, Ph.D. shows how true events from her life reflect alternative living and learning. She is able to encourage others because of her own creative life as an experiential teacher. Her professional research on imagination and nature provide her a philosophical base for inspiring herself and other sojourners.

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© 2011 Jacqueline K. Kelsey, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 3/2/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4520-7039-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-7040-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-7041-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010914831

Printed in the United States of America

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR’S RELATIONSHIP TO NATURE

By telling parables Jacqueline Kelsey teaches observational skills regarding the connection between revered nature and the commonplace of human experience.

After completing interdisciplinary Ph. D. research on learning from the land, Jacqueline developed a theoretical worldview which illustrates how imagination relates to cycles in nature, work life, and learning.

Her professional background as a college and university teacher has been enhanced by extensive travel throughout the United States and beyond. Her exploration has included immersion in native cultures which are historically embedded in the wonder of nature such as the American Indian, Hawaiian and South Pacific. Growing up in a rural community provided her with first-hand experience nurturing animals. She is able to draw naturally on true-to-life incidents occurring on their once-family farm and in small towns where she lived throughout her life.

Dedicated to learning how untamed nature can bring meaning and healing through its all encompassing beauty, Kelsey has used her accumulated talents to share what she has learned through serendipity and intuition.

Through the spoken word on radio programs and in workshops, and through the written word in books and materials, she conveys a simple method of seeing and hearing. Nature deserves an integral role in developing our awareness. She has come to believe that tuning into our imagination makes us one with a God-imagined natural world and therefore enlarges our significance on earth.

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PREFACE

Learn to hear and see your answers from nature. On the front porch of Kathryn and John’s North Woods’ home along the river, seven stories join the worlds of home and wild nature beneath the tall black door. Together the stories illustrate the healing touch of nature in our affairs when we learn to imagine life as children do. Story events transform into everyday miracles which guide the main characters’ lives.

John and Kathryn draw nature to themselves to learn about finding joy in grief, balancing overwork with leisure, saying No to negative influences, having faith to heal, and confirming intuitive leads for career changes. Readers can recognize their connections with nature and become inspired by example to right their affairs when they pay attention to their hearts’ desires for improving their lives.

Intuitive observations and sensitivity to nature’s creatures enable the author’s main characters to teach us a way of thinking and behaving that successfully translates everyday, backyard experiences into nurturing food for the soul.

Beneath the Tall Black Door represents a portal for those who choose to respectfully allow nature to reveal connections and solutions to the issues they currently face.

With elegant simplicity the parables contained in Beneath the Tall Black Door become a guide to discover a deeper appreciation for the profound messages that nature reveals through its cycles.

The author’s imaginative description of the four changing seasons on River Street clearly gives the reader a philosophical sense of the majestic beauty of the wild and what it has to offer us.

DEDICATION

Nellie with the Big Eyes

Miss Nellie viewed the river from her pinnacle banister inside the house on River Street.

Nellie (NOEL) was found under a snowy porch in December. The neighbor who loved animals gave her to John even though he did not want a dog or a rabbit. Nellie had become the youngest cat in the house because Thomas Aquinas, the Venerable old Tom, had flown from the farm to the North Woods to spend his last days sunning in the window of the birthing room. He would descend the steep steps one at a time like a small child and Nellie would bounce over him skipping steps.

When Kathryn moved back to the Midwestern farm, Kathryn helped her parents in their last years and took Nellie with her after Tom died. When Nellie died suddenly from an enlarged heart, she left