On a writing list I belong to, Ellen Moore of New Life Stories quoted the lines from Henry James "Summer afternoon - Summer afternoon... the two most beautiful words in the English language....".
I misread them as "English summer afternoon" - and though I got the quotation wrong, it was pertinent serendipity - and the reason why I have not been showing up here - again - very often. I have been seduced by English summer afternoons - and mornings - in the garden, where I have been spending my time from (almost) dawn to dusk on many days.
We had very heavy rain last night - but this morning, everything is washed fresh and clean. The pond, which has been gravitating towards a congested puddle, has filled up again, as I discovered when I went to check it just now. Peering into the depths, I noticed how murky it still was under the surface - and then, in front of my eyes, a pair of glittering wings sped past.
The first big dragonfly of the year - and from the iridescence of the wings I suspected that it was newly emerged from its nymphal exoskeleton. I inspected the foliage around the pond - and there, amongst the rushes, was another - just emerged (you can see the exoskeleton from which it has emerged just behind it - and that of the first dragonfly that I saw just below), sunning itself in order to allow its wings to expand and dry out. Is it not an exquisite sight?
There is a lot of work to be done out in the garden - but another reason why I am spending time in the garden is to dance with the music of nature - for as my dear on-line friend Carolyn whose husband Arnie is very seriously ill exhorts us on her own blog - "Dance while you have the chance". Fran Redondowriter tells you more of their story and offers her own thoughts and prayers here
Carolyn and Arnie have been an inspiration to me and many others on the two writing communities we mutually belong to for several years now. Carolyn's family motto is (or should be) "When Life hands you lemons, make lemonade" - but right now, even Carolyn is lost for words as she sits with Arnie in his battle for life.
And for me - when I feel pretty hopeless and not able to do much other than listen and witness to others tough times? I go into my garden - (as I know Carolyn so often does) and I sink my fingers into the earth, to
reconnect with what is important.
I inhale the scents of the herbs, I watch the buzzards flying overhead, soaring on thermals and hoping that those who struggle at this time are lifted up on Eagles Wings. I listen to the crickets in the field next door, I watch the tadpoles in the pond as they metamorphose into little froglets and strike out with their tiny little new-frog legs to swim from one side of the pond to the other.
When I struggle with my own emotions and the emotions of others, when I am looking for glimpses of hope in a seeming sea of difficulty, I go back to nature. Wendell Berry says it more perfectly than I ever could....I may have posted this before - but it easily bears repeating...
The Peace of Wild Things
When despair in the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my
children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water and the
great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with
forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of
still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting their light.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world
and am free.
Wendell Berry
Keep Carolyn and Arnie in your thoughts, good readers - Dance while you have the chance, and take time to notice the glitter of a dragonfly's wing.








I've often had interesting comments on this blog from Rowan - but until today I had not visited her own blog
A wee bit risqué, but how can I not share the utter joy and mischievousness that my cousin carries with her wherever she goes? 

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