Hi...me again
but I just had to share this with you. No...it`s not wildly intellectual.Neither is it informative in the sense that I am able to bring you the latest news on a government bill,or the most recent update on scientific research.I will leave such incredibly useful postings to those of you who have the cerebral capacity and awesome patience to research such things.
My offering is somewhat simple by comparison...but despite my recent burst of humour ,I have in fact just come through an extremely difficult week,both physically and mentally.I have experienced the physical exhaustion of three consecutive nights without sleep,owing to two poorly children,and a good dose of emotional misery to add to my load.
Consequently,on Saturday,I slept until way past 1.00pm,my two sisters
beside themselves because they couldn`t wake me...and two missed doses of medication in the process.
However...I was encouraged to go for a stroll with my sister,the children and my two humungous dogs and believe me..it was the last thing I wanted to do.I couldn`t even contemplate the thought of dressing.But...insistence prevailed and off I went,lucky to live close to several tiny woods.

Oh how glad I did. On entering the wood,it was as if I had stepped into another world. Shaded by leafy canopies,we trod over moss covered ground,the aroma released with each footstep...and surrounding us on all sides,the beginnings of new growth...wild honeysuckle throwing out its tendrils and festooning the trees with garlands of green.Underneath,a carpet of peat and new grass,peppered with the white flowers of wood anemone. I was like a child,expressing delight at each new cluster of beautiful flowers.Then I spotted the tiniest wild violet.Absolutely perfect and flawless...then some more...and even more. As our journey progressed,my mood increased for the better,my energy recharged and my spirit became renewed.This clearly was medicine for the soul and I forgot the trauma of the week that had just passed.
How easy it is to ignore the treasures on our doorstep,and disregard the beauty of that which is offered for free.
I almost wished I could remain there,amongst those simple gifts of nature.
On emerging,I felt so uplifted and ready to tackle what was left of the day...the images of those beautiful flowers in my mind...The calm and tranquility had magically transferred to me that day.Absolutely nothing...was able to take away that glorious feeling that a simple woodland walk had given me.What a gift.I am still hypnotised by it.

x

This reminds me of the poem by Robert Browning:Oh to be in England......Having said this beauty can be found in lots of places if you look.Thank you Steff for reminding us of how beautiful the world can be.Your piece brought back many memories to my minds eye.I am luckier than most as we live in a particulaly beautiful part of Devon,England and you also reminded me not to take it for granted.

there are times when the weight of the world and all of it's problems overwelm me. i get so caught up in the things that i cannot change that i loose sight of the things that i can change. your beautiful post about stopping to smell the roses and to concentrate on the here and now came at a time when i was starting to freak out; thinking that i had bitten off more than i could chew. i took your advice, took a deep breathe and let the springtime weather chase all of my worries away at a friend's lake and A-frame. it was soooo peaceful, w/o a phone. and you are so right, i came home that evening, refreshed, refocused, recommitted and renewed. i can bear almost anything, but sleep deprivation is a killer. thanks for sharing your story!

Sorry you had a bad week, Steffi, but Nature is always there to calm and soothe us. Some time ago I read a study on the recovery rates of hospital patients, and it turns out that those patients who can see trees from their hospital beds recover twice as fast as those who only see walls, or buildings. That should give us a hint, shouldn't it?

Hope I`ve spelt your name correctly.I can believe that.Some parts of my country are just strewn with blocks of high rise flats.Each time I gaze at these concrete monstrosities I wonder about the folk who live there and how they manage to see greenery.I feel so very sad for them...but not in a condescending way.They are maybe very happy living there....but it always makes me count my blessings that each way I look there are trees,and fields and meadows.Some folk move to the countryside and then moan about the cockerels crowing at an unearthly hour,or the smells from the pigfarm???? uh? What is THAT all about.Guess there`s no pleasing some people.I`m quite happy to stride about in wellies and sniff the cowdung [I do n`t mean I get my face down to it !!!!] At least it proves PD hasn`t taken my olfactory senses yet..lol Hope you are keeping well.Lovely to hear from you.

x

Steffi:

There is even beauty in bare November days.

Lloyd

My November Guest

My Sorrow, when she’s here with me,
Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
She walks the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.
She talks and I am fain to list:
She’s glad the birds are gone away,
She’s glad her simple worsted gray
Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,
The faded earth, the heavy sky,
The beauties she so truly sees,
She thinks I have no eye for these,
And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know
The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell her so,
And they are better for her praise

Robert Frost (1874–1963). A Boy’s Will. 1915

...how positively beautiful.Strangely enough as we were walking through the wood I said to my sister how much I`d love to go there in winter,when the pine trees were covered with frost and snow.I could envisage that wood in all her different robes.How very knowing of you.
Thank you.
x

LLordy...gonna have to stop sending you guys kisses and all that.I`ll get struck off.A shameless hussy.

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Every Easter I write a little rhyme for the grandchildren. It's not to show off that I put my ditties here, right after Robert Frost's beautiful poetry. These rhymes are not poetry, they are children's rhymes, and just for fun.
I put them here because they celebrate nature and Spring - and the Easter Bunny!

2007
I really thought that Spring was here
The birds were singing, the sky was clear.
The Robins, tricked by the early heat
came back in flocks from their Winter retreat
The sun was as warm as it is in May
It really felt as if Spring would stay.

Today when I look out my window I see
That snow lies thick on bush and tree.
The garden looks like an ice cream dessert
I can’t see the least little speck of dirt
The bird feeder sports a white beret
It looks like Christmas outside today

But nature is busy under the snow,
The bulbs are working to put on their show
Of beautiful flowers in colors divine.
The snow will soon melt and all will be fine
In good time for Easter and egg hunts and fun
By then I'm quite sure that Spring will have sprung


2006
Through my window I can see
A red winged blackbird in a tree
He sings a song that isn’t long
But that’s the song he’s always sung
I know you’ll agree
It’s a sweet melodie
That he sings with such glee
Though the words are just “BOMBAH – DEE.”
“BOMBAH – DEE, BOMBAH – DEE,”
Spring is coming, wait and see.


Nests are filling up with eggs
Baby birds with tiny legs
Tiny wings and tiny beaks
Will appear in a few weeks
Ducklings, goslings,
Chicks and bunnies
Sweet and pretty little honeys
All the things that spring in spring.
“BOMBAH – DEE, BOMBAH – DEE,”
Spring is coming, wait and see.


Now, wait just a minute, that’s absurd
I know a bunny is not a bird.
Easter eggs are made of candy
With his basket big and handy
The Easter Bunny goes to the store
People stare when he hops through the door
They think it is funny to see the big bunny
But he doesn’t care, he always shops there
“BOMBAH – DEE, BOMBAH – DEE,”
Spring is coming, wait and see.


To Peter, 2005
Have you seen how Spring is springing?
Many little birds are singing
Yellow Crocuses are up
Tulips show a dark green top.

***** Willow branches teem
With tiny fuzzy buds that seem
Like little goslings clinging tight
Still too young to think of flight

Happy Spring and happy Easter everyone,

birte

Beautiful poem, Lloyd, thanks!
And Birthe, you are just as sweet as they come! I loved that Easter poem and I'm sure your grandchildren will, too.
I miss those innocent protestant Easter traditions with Easter Bunnies and Easter Eggs. Here in Spain centuries of strict catholicism have turned Easter week into a horrific, theatrical show of sinister processions that positively give me the creeps. Unfortunately, their incredible visual and emotional impact attracts so many tourists, that it's getting worse every year (if that were possible).
By the way, I'm catholic and thus am entitled to critizise them all I want.