(Wordless) gratitude
Category: staying true
The one-legged seagull
Questions, questions, questions
If you’ve seen a one-legged seagull, you’ll know what I mean.
Why are there so many of them?
Do they lose their legs during epic battles for territory?
Why don’t their predators attack other parts of their bodies? (Do seagulls have predators?)
And then, too:
How do one-legged seagulls survive?
Do they grow replacement legs, like reptiles grow new tails?
Or does the remaining leg grow stronger over time?
So many questions.
I could google for answers, I suppose,
but I’m enjoying the mystery …
Self-transcendence
If you are ever in need of an answer or feel a little lost in this great big world, go out there and hit the trails. Leave the Garmin at home and just get out there and be. Connect with nature. Listen to the whispers of breeze in the trees or the ramblings of the nearby stream. Eventually, you will find what you are looking for and perhaps, in time, you will find yourself as well.
The words I’ve quoted above come from the blog So what? I run.
(Read the whole post here.)
For me, they apply whether I’m walking or running.
Through the gate …
Because of my knee injury, it’s all about walking for me right now.
And I’m okay with that.
Past the vineyards …
It’s all about the connection with the world around me:
it’s vital.
It’s healing.
Past the reeds swaying in the wind …
And in the spirit of the quote above,
I’m posting today some photos from one of my favourite walks.
Past the hanging tyre …
You don’t need phones or apps or pedometers or fitbits.
You just need time to look,
to listen,
to breathe.
The quality of blue (2)
As I mentioned in my previous post,
there is something about the colour of the sea in summer.
The quality of blue is different from other times of the year.
It’s silky blue.
Pearly blue.
The truest kind of blue.
Blue sky.
Blue sea.
Bluer than blue.
A celebration of blue.
The quality of blue (1)
Sometimes, in mid-summer, when the wind is easterly,
the sea looks like a sheet of blue silk
unfurling over the sand.
(Wordless) gratitude
16 January 2016
1.50 pm
My hourglass
Slowly, it started to feel as if I had clawed my way back to something resembling a life. It was such a relief to know that I hadn’t finished changing — I wasn’t an hourglass that had timed out, all the grains fallen through. I wasn’t stuck, too soon the best I could ever be.
from ‘Inbetween Days’
by Vikki Wakefield*
Have you ever wondered if you’ve already achieved the best you can?
Have you ever thought that it’s all downhill from here?
If so, perhaps — like me — you will find these words comforting.
I like to think of the grains in my hourglass still trickling through slowly …
… not quite timing out.
*Note:
Vikki is a good friend of mine and fellow writer. Check out her website for more information.
Tangled
The bush is in the throes of mid-summer right now.
It’s dry and brown.
It’s a tangle of trunks and branches —
and grasses —
and twigs and leaves.
But the mistletoe in the trees …
… is in flower:
And one or two bushes are heavy with creamy blossom.
Insects tick.
Shrike thrushes sing.
Whistlers call.
Black cockatoos swoop and shriek.
Kookaburras laugh.
Summer slumbers on.
Happy/sad
So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.
From ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower‘
By Stephen Chbosky
Have you read The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
I came to it a few years ago — later than most people, long after the film was released. I think I thought (cynically) that it was a kind of super-cool rewrite of The Catcher in the Rye. And I don’t like super-cool books.
But it isn’t.
I like Charlie’s voice. The narrative is simple and poignant, and gets at the heart of the loneliness of being an adolescent.
Happy/sad.
That’s not just adolescence, though, is it?
PS Happy birthday to my mother for today! ❤
Long days, hot nights, mirror seas
The longest day of the year has just passed.
One night this week, before the sun set, I wandered down to the beach.
It was the end of the fifth day in a row over 40 degrees Celsius.
It was a still, sultry evening,
the skies stormy,
but the sea shining like a mirror.
It’s a beautiful world.
Merry Christmas, everybody.
Rebecca xo
twenty-one words 