The blossom is spent

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature ― the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. And there’s something so absolutely pleasing about a bunch of carrots with tops on! Maybe it’s the thought of pulling them out of the ground. As I stood there looking down at the carrots, thunder rumbled its way into the distance, and then the rain came, dropping words to the ground all around me. The blossom is spent and the trees are now all clothed in fresh green. Nature is throbbing with the sound of summer, a loud bird chorus. I felt the warmth of the sun on my shoulders and I felt at peace. If I had a song that I could sing for you, I’d sing a song to make you feel this way.

African Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus)
Camera : Kodak EasyShare C195
Taken in my garden

Being a dragon is amazing!

Remember when you were a little kid and someone asked you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And you looked at that person with bewildered eyes because you realized the possibilities were limitless and you could really be anything you ever wanted. You said something dumb like “a dragon” and they laughed and patted you on the head and said, “Oh how cute, you little child person, you.”

African Skink — Taken on my patio
Camera : Canon EOS 550D

I walk with ... beauty

Beauty before me, I walk with.
Beauty behind me, I walk with.
Beauty above me, I walk with.
Beauty below me, I walk with.
Beauty all around me, I walk with.
—Navajo Night Chant

Camera : Canon EOS 550D
Taken in my garden at my wildlife pond (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

Southern masked-weaver, male – Ploceus velatus – surveying his domain from a rock at my wildlife pond.

Regaining my connection

I sat down on the grass, crossing my legs yoga-style, and took a deep breath. Watching the river flow by deep and strong, sending ripples to the bank, I felt myself calm down. Today had not been a good day and I knew I needed to get out into the fresh air to think things over. His words were still ringing in my ears and I felt my heart cringing in pain. What had led to this? Was it my fault?

I closed my eyes and felt the warmth of the sun on my shoulders. Proof that life goes on, no matter what. I opened my eyes and took in the scenery around me. A Cormorant landed in a tree on the opposite bank and I could see it feeding its young. They will soon have to face the large and sometimes hostile world out there one of these days and I wished that I could be there for them if and when adversity strikes.

My thoughts returned to my heart-ache. I realised that, unlike birds, we have a certain amount of control over adversity, over what happens to us. We can do something about it. Getting up and brushing myself off, I walked back to my car. My mind was clear, I knew what I had to do.

A sense of well-being

As I laboured, packing the rocks for my new water feature, I felt a certain sense of satisfaction in the gnawing pain in my back. Physical labour — feeling the weight of the rocks, their smoothness, their warmth from where they had been lying in a pile in the sun for a couple of weeks — gives me a sense of accomplishment. I stand back, surveying my handiwork and feel an exquisite sense of well-being.

What do I miss about my life before the internet…?

It seems that nostalgia is big these days. Everybody is always referring to "the old days" and the other day I was asked whether I don't miss life before the internet and all the gadgets we are surrounded with these days.

Seriously? Do you want me to tell you that I miss standing in the queue at the bank to deposit money to pay my accounts? Do you want me to tell you that I miss writing out cheques to pay creditors, putting them in envelopes and then having to go to the post office to post them? And then having to follow up where the cheque is when a creditor says they haven’t received it?

Do you want me to tell you I miss taking photographs and then having to go to a photographic shop to have them printed out, with many botched photos in the batch for which I have to pay, and then having to post them off to family and friends to share? Do you also want me to tell you I enjoyed paging  through telephone books to find a store’s number, spend hours on the phone with various stores to find out what products they have, how much it is and then spend hours comparing prices?

I also can’t tell you that, before the internet, I enjoyed having to deal with scores of estate agents when I wanted to sell a property, signing endless mandates from which nothing ever materialised. I also can’t tell you I enjoyed huge phone bills endlessly querying wrong accounts and talking to rude people and, to boot, getting nowhere!

No, I can’t tell you that there is ANYTHING that I miss about my life before the internet!

To bless this kind earth

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Glory of expression

Simplicity is the most difficult thing to secure in this world; 

it is the last limit of experience and the last effort of genius.  

- George Sand 

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I wish...

I wish I had invented blue jeans: the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed and nonchalant. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes.

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The ultimate sophistication

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

- Leonardo da Vinci

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