Five AM - Dark Room - Full Moon

Through my dark window I glimpse the Moon and my breath is stolen away by its presence. That great big shiny coin is just hanging there, low and golden in the sky like unspent riches. Its aura so bright that I feel I have happened on some piece of magic not usually destined for mortal eyes.

"The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration."- Claude Monet

A Moment Observed

A gust of wind - and a flurry of yellow gold leaves take to the air and soar over my fence like birds.

“Take one step away from yourself - and behold! - the Path!” - Abu Sa'id

An Unexpected Gift

November has bought more light into my north facing room. The trees have dropped their verdant graces and now stand naked against the colourless sky. Intricate silhouettes softened and blurred by the gentle falling rain.

“You realize that our mistrust of the future makes it hard to give up the past.” - Chuck Palahniuk

Early This Morning. . .

It has been so long since I last waited for the dawn, there is magic in that liminal place as we cross the threshhold from dark to light. So here I sit in this dark room, watching as the soft pink light gently dissolves the darkness into a new day.

“As you breathe in, cherish yourself. As you breathe out, cherish all beings.” - Dalai Lama

Time to Rhyme

The constant trees beyond my window, stately stood against the sky. Clouds adorned with whirling jackdaws. How I wish that I could fly.

“And so being young and dipped in folly I fell in love with melancholy.” - Edgar Allan Poe

The Magnificence of Clouds

And the sky was full of mountains, snow white and edged with light. Billowing turrets set against the brightest blue. They made me catch my breath in awe. What a privilege to be alive and to be conscious of it - and of the splendour of skies such as these.

"Awareness is curative." - Fritz Perls

Day Dawning

Dawn breaks and tumbles over the horizon in pinks and pearls, trailing light from the east. The land gives up its bat filled darkness and the night creatures scurry home just before the first bird begins to sing.

"Learn to pause...or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you." - Doug King

Nothing moves but sound

The air is still as feathers and the yellow sun nowhere to be seen. From the top of the old ash tree, a crow shouts. . . his voice resounding like a claxon, sending sound waves shimmering through the static air.

"What comes out of you when you are squeezed is what is inside of you." - Wayne Dyer

Looking for Colour

Geranium, white, a punctuation in this monotone scene. My eyes roam, restless, searching for somewhere to settle. At last, amidst the roaring greens I see it. A splash of yellow glowing like grounded sunshine.

"I have immortal longings in me." - William Shakespeare

First Glimpse of Autumn

Shadows shifting. Soft grass splashed with sunlight. Shimmering leaves throw down their yellow gold beauty like blessings bestowed. The green velvet ground at my feet is laden with jewels.

“There are no old roads to new directions.” - anon

Illuminated

The light through the trees is beautiful. Low golden sun touching the remnants of this dark day. Oozing from the edges of leaves and falling into liquid amber pools, its soft fingers spread honey on the cold hard ground.

“Love what you do. Learn balance. Take rests. Trust your instincts.” - Leith Clark

As Night Falls

The hushed night falls as quiet as a breath over my garden. Silhouetted against the indigo sky, bats navigate at speed, swooping low and agile. Nocturnal birds weaving their dark magic into the fabric of the coming night.

"From wonder into wonder existence opens." - Lao Tzu

Last Sunset of July

Through the trees, a band of fire sets the horizon alight. The Sun is singing its radiant farewell, leaving the marshmallow sky to ready itself for another night.

"There is no enlightenment outside of daily life." - Thich Nhat Hanh

Seeing the light

Illuminated leaves, petals painted with light. A shaft of sunshine visits the darkest corner of my garden.

"The greatest discoveries are those that shed light unto ourselves." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I Saw a Butterfly

I saw the feeble white flutter of wings, stifled. Wrapped in a skein of spiders silk, its beauty captured. I reached out my hand and broke its chains, freeing it from its single thread shackle. It fell to the green leaf safety net below, and I knelt and pulled away the sticky rope that had it bound. White wings flickered open and closed, as if to be sure it was finally free. I smiled as it took to the air, circling up into the deep blue of the afternoon sky.

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." - William James

Feeding Felines

Cats running, tails raised, after the moving plate of food.

"Say yes to what belongs to you, and let all else go." - Alan Cohen

Every Shade of Grey

I sense the stillness, the silence, as this greyscale evening seeps into my psyche - permeating my aura. The sky's grey mantle, a lid upon the world. It adds a weight that I can feel right down to my bones.

"The quieter you become, the more you can hear." - Ram Dass

In The Middle Of The Night

I awaken, heart pounding, terrified. The nightmare still has me in its power, so I reach out to stir my partner. "Are you okay?" he mumbles as he surfaces from sleep, then continues with a disappointed tone to his voice. "I was dreaming I was baking cakes, and now I won't be there when they come out of the oven." I feel the giggle bubbling up through my fear.

"Someone to tell it to is one of the fundamental needs of human beings." - Miles Franklin

The Strange Beauty Of Walls

Drystone wall, lichen covered and beautiful. Orange and pale green tell stories of time passing.

"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." - Frederick Buechner

Overheard

Old man taps his cane, I feel the floor vibrate under my feet. Hushed conversation overheard. "Do you like yoghurt". He yawns and looks away.

"The control center of your life is your attitude." - Norman Cousins

Giving Voice

The wind makes my garden speak. It runs through the greenery, whispering and telling tales.

"Music in the soul can be heard by the universe." - Lao Tzu

Up, Up and Away

A swirl of butterflies ascend skyward, weaving their white magic against the endless blue.

"Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day." - Henri Nouwen

Eight Thirty This Evening

The sinking sun paints the soft white clouds yellow. Crows shout their goodbyes to yet another day.

"Join me in the pure atmosphere of gratitude for life." - Hafiz of Persia

From a Hospital Waiting Room

Waiting room, silence broken by hushed whispers. Outside, the sky hangs heavy and grey over the red brick buildings. His big hand is warm, he curls his fingers around mine and squeezes. A small gesture that speaks volumes. She comes with clipboard and calls his name. He gets to his feet and quickly leaves the room. Silence resumes.

"Don't say this is good and that is bad. Drop all discrimination. Accept everything as it is." - Osho

At the end of the day

Yellow light dazzles and daubs. I am smeared in sunshine.

"Follow the river and you will find the sea." - French Proverb

Earth Drinking

Rain darkens the tree trunks, the skies, the bench in my garden. Splashing and dripping in translucent drops, it falls to the grateful and thirsty land.

Put seeds and cover them. Blades will sprout where you do your work. – Rumi

Bina Observed

She sits on the windowsill, tail wrapped around her delicate paws. The light catching her profile and highlighting the cream coloured patch on her nose. She turns and sees me watching and begins to purr.

"People that don't like cats haven't met the right one yet." - Deborah A. Edwards

Sounds from the kitchen

I hear the soft rumble of the kettle as it comes to the boil, then the chink of spoon against cups. I smile, knowing that he is making us both a cup of coffee.

"This is my beloved and this is my friend." - Song of Solomon

With my hands in the earth

Dark earth, hard crust gives as I plunge in my trowel. Careful transplanting of self set seedlings complete. I clear space for the courgette plant that has been waiting to put down roots.

"Where ever you are, be there totally." - Eckhart Tolle

seeing not hearing

The tiny bird and his shadow sit on my fence top. He has his back to me, but I can see his little body moving. And though I can't hear it through my double glazed windows, I can tell that he is singing. . .

"For lack of attention a thousand forms of loveliness elude us every day." - Evelyn Underhill

Sky Watching

The trees are backlit with a shimmering honey aura, their foliage all aglow. Changing light weaves a special magic that only those who watch the skies will ever know.

"Just remain in the center, watching. And then forget that you are there." - Lao Tzu

A Passing Moment

The melancholy landed on my shoulders. I felt it settle, like soft familiar hands. It seeped into my skin and slowly permeated my being, like luke warm warm liquid poured into my bones.

“There is always a sheet of paper. There is always a pen. There is always a way out.” - H.L. Mencken

The Beauty of Light

Soft pink morning light casts its shadows, like nets, upon my gardens green ocean. Natures intricate etchings, inking the canvas of my fence. With the ever shifting dance of light and shade, everything looks twice as beautiful in my garden today. . .

"Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are."- Alfred Austin

Waiting in Traffic

Slow moving cars crawl to a stop. Beneath the bridge the motorway traffic hurtles onward. There between the exhaust fumes and sunlight, a tiny white butterfly flutters like a floating flower.

"There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing."
- Lorraine Hansberry

Running from the Wind

Clouds like curling waves, ride the roughshod sky. Moving at such a pace, I can only guess that the wind is chasing them across the heavens today.

"The dream was always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that was the miracle." - Anais Nin

Torrential Downpour

Rain bounces from the shiny wet pavement. Dynamic water droplets leaping back up into the waiting air. Branches bend and glossy leaves act as funnels - channelling the water down into kinetic puddles, where the frenetic water continues to dance.

"Arriving at one point is the starting point to another." - John Dewey

Everything Moves

The sun fell so quickly tonight. Streaking the watercolour sky with skeins of the softest yellow. Silhouettes appear in the big old tree. The jackdaws are coming home to roost.

"The world is always in movement." - V. S. Naipaul

Where I Am

Clock ticking, marking time as night shadows darken. In the mirror of my uncovered window, I see the reflection of my lamp lit room. On the other side of the glass, a tiny moth flutters. . .

"Be where you are; otherwise you will miss your life." - Buddha

Before Twilight

In the grey green moment before twilight, a solitary dove lands. Rain drips from the silent bird table and falls to the waiting earth.

"Peace in ourselves, peace in the world." - Thich Nhat Hanh

Driving As The Sun Goes Down

Speeding by the sunset - a blur of yellow streaks the coming night with gold.

"You are the energy, and the energy is you." - Berri Clove

Parachutists

From a slow moving plane they emerge. Brightly coloured canopies whirling in the still afternoon air. Like man seeds falling from the sky.

"Who can tell the dancer from the dance?" - William Butler Yeats

Reflection

I held the mirror upside down today but it didn't change what I saw. Still me, still there, still the right way up.

"You’re thinking too much. Just let it flow." - E. Paluszak

Industrial Estate

Growing among the rusted metal and stark utility of factory units. The tiny yellow flowers bloom.

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them." - Henri Matisse

Walking in Twilight

I wanted to take pictures of the day leaving and the night covering the vast heavens with stars. So I walked out into the moth rich darkness, and was entranced by the intricate silhouettes of trees etched against the sky.

"The shadows: some hide, others reveal." - Antonio Porchia

Sunday Sunshine. . .

The heat haze hangs heavy over the leaf green land. The air has weight. I feel it pressing into my unwilling limbs, wrapping itself around my shoulders like a shawl.

The time will come when winter will ask you what you were doing all summer.- Henry Clay

Why She Hasn't Visited

June has waited until this - the longest day, to walk with gentle feet onto this page. She has been so busy adorning the land with her green touch, blowing new life into every living thing she hasn't visited here. I saw her face in the blooming flowers, and instantly understood why...

"I've been wandering my garden, eating gooseberries and blackcurrents off of the bush."- SB

Listening to Nature

I step into the garden and I can almost hear it all growing. Nature is burgeoning, pushing forth with green fingers and blossom. The energy is palpable. I watched the insects busily moving from flower to flower, struck by the fact that they are living their life too. A shared space, my garden, the insects, the birds, this moment and me . . .
LINK

"If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere." - Vincent Van Gogh

Right Now . . .

Pushed by the wind, white clouds sail across the vast ocean of blue sky. On top of my fence a sparrow fledgling chases after its parents, fluttering its tiny wings.

"The cloud is free only to go with the wind. The rain is free only when falling." - Wendell Berry

A Change in The Weather

No blue today. The sky like spilt milk oozes across the heavens and the green leaf ocean rises and falls as it rides the wind like surf.

"Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates". - The Kybalion

The Beauty of Dandelions

Outside my window, a Jackson Pollock riot of yellow spattered dandelions transforms the plain green canvas into a giant painting underfoot. And the landscape is alive, as the miniature suns open their intricate and shining hearts to the sky.

"What a nice day. What a nice universe." - Flemming Funch

Before Dawn

Awake before dawn, I am draped in a shawl of melancholy. It settles like a fine mist as I emerge into the half light, stranded between sleep and wakefulness. It seeps in through my pores, infiltrating my being. There's nothing I can do but wait, as it gently evaporates, and like a soft cloud sails away on the wind of this new day.

"The moon lives in the lining of your skin. " - Pablo Neruda

Yesterday by the Reservoir

I was standing at the edge of the reservoir, watching the breeze draw patterns on the water. The thick white cloud parted to give a glimpse of the brightest blue sky. Then came the transformation - a shaft of sunlight illuminated the ever moving dark water at my feet, dancing upon its surface like a million scattered diamonds.

"Each moment a blessing of abundance, each breath a prayer of thanksgiving." - Michael Rawls

As April Begins

All Fools day, and by my gate the Magnolia tree is abundant with promise. Its blooms like chalices, pink tinged and pointed at the sky. Such delicate beauty, still serene in the blustery wind of March's last breath. Soon there will be perfume to touch all who enter here, sweet scent at my gate, as April begins...

"I used to trouble about what life was for, now being alive seems sufficient reason." - Joanna Field

The Sweet Smell of Hyacinths

Treading quietly, I slowly open my bedroom door and step out into the softly lit hallway. With one sleep filled eye still closed I am stopped in my tracks, overwhelmed by the sweet smell of hyacinths. Nostalgia steps forward and paints its hues into this midnight scene, indelibly marking the moment. And as dawns grey light heralds another day, it is the first thing I remember as I open my eyes.

"We must not let daylight in upon the magic." - Walter Bagehot

This Misty Morning

This morning wears mist like a shawl, a veil to disguise the swelling of the fresh green buds. Today, I can only imagine the traces of spring laying swaddled in the fine gauze that March has casually thrown over her shoulders and wrapped around her still bare bones.

"We’re all stumbling towards the light with varying degrees of grace at any given moment." - Bo Lozoff

A New View From My Window

There in the distance they have cut down a tree and my wall of nature has now been breached. A new porthole opened up into the world of man. Through it I see a house on a hill and grey sky reaching back to the horizon.

"Seek a reality deeper than the changing forms." - Meher Baba

The Setting of Todays Sun

These few quiet moments, as the sun dips in the watercolour sky and daytime trees become silhouettes etched onto the surface of twilight. The horizon is glowing flame orange, fading up into purple night. Stillness reigns, as a solitary bird sings another precious day to sleep.

"Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty." - James Russell Lowell

The Soft Footsteps of March

Dressed in the yellow light of her spring sunshine, March tiptoed in and left the door ajar. Winter shouted after her as she trailed new life. The coldness of his breath chilling my hopeful bones. For now they coexist, sharing the earth... but as each day passes the scales are tipped in the favour of Spring.

"There is in all visible things...a hidden wholeness." -Thomas Merton

Last Day of February

Low cloud, grey skies, drizzle. Lichen covered stone. Catkins swaying in the breeze. Tiny new buds emerging from winter twigs. Forsythia's first yellow blazes in the shadows and the hardy evergreen sits solid in the rapidly waking earth.

"Tomorrow lurks in us, the latency to be all that was not achieved before." - Loren Eiseley

This Morning's Sounds

From the kitchen, the rumbling of the washing machine sounds like a distant train. The kettle gathers steam, hissing as it comes to the boil. Closer and much quieter is the soft breathing of a cat, sleeping, and if I listen hard, the almost imperceptable tick of a clock. Then behind those sounds and quieter still, my heartbeat.

"Each thought, each action in the sunlight of awareness becomes sacred." - Thich Nhat Hanh

Newly Ploughed

Rich brown earth, newly ploughed. Turned and ready, it draws me with its fertile promise and vast expanse. It is expectant, awaiting the seed it will nurture and nourish. I want to throw myself down into its warm umber embrace. It is potent. I long to sink my roots, tap the energy I feel there. Ah, soon it will be Spring.

"All that you need is just to be silent and listen to existence." - Osho

Watching the Day Dawn

Up before dawn. Darkness wanted company so I came and sat with it a while in the gentle and heavy silence. And as the pale pink light began to seep across the sky it let go of my hand and slipped away without a word.

"Bound to suns and planets by invisible cords, I feel the flame of eternity in my soul." - Helen Keller

First sharing of my NaNoWriMo Novel

She's reading it. Stepping into the world my mind has spawned. Getting to know the figments of my imagination. My words through her eyes. I am no longer alone. She is living the story too.

"How do people make it through life without a sister?" - Sara Corpening

Equilibrium

Daybreak's shallow breath pushes away the dark pointing fingers of night. Restores equilibrium to the scales that have been tipped in favour of darkness. Outside my window a solitary bird, sings.

"Man is harder than rock and more fragile than an egg." - Yugoslav Proverb

Sitting Beside The Window

Morning, beginning the slow ascent into the day. Opalescent sky reflected in my cup. A movement in the still surface, there is a bird flying in my coffee. I drink it up.

"As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself." - Shunryu Suzuki

Tuesday

The gentle grey green morning cradles me in its comfortable arms, there are no sharp edges or loud noises, just the soft slow hum of another day dawning.

"Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most." - Buddha

Darkness Falls

I hang from the moment. Twisting each second, stopping the tick, before it tocks. Darkness falls over the villages and towns and seeps into the quiet corners of the wildest places. High above, a single star, shines.

"Be not afraid of life." - William James

Just Enough

Snow again. A light touch. A delicate frosting. Just enough to highlight edges, coat leaves and settle into the contours of twigs. Like icing sugar sifted on top of a cake, there is just enough to make the morning beautiful.

"Existence begins in every instant." - Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche