Day Tripping

What a privilege to see swallow so close up! They really seemed to be giving us a display and enjoying the attention.













We were blessed with the most wonderful weather, lovely people at Historic Scotland and alot of fun. Simple pleasures...

North Pole Sunset

No not my own photo!

This photo was emailed to me with the message: This is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point last week - a scene you will probably never get to see in person so take a moment and enjoy God at work at the North Pole... It invites one to share with others so i am assuming that includes adding it to my blog without claiming it is my own work! The following is my own work though!

tick-tock of clock
rhythm of day
"ba-duhm" of heart
rhythm of love?

sun rises
moon stays
sun sets
moon stays

lunar cycle
twenty-seven days
three times nine...
which is three times three
three gather three thrice
every nine days.

observe moon
pass across sky-scape;
stir pot, cauldron, kettle
coffee grounds
read in bottom of cup.

Bowl of Cherries

If life is a bowl of cherries what is a bowl of cherry stones and stalks?

The flesh of the cherries can be sweet or sour
the stones are inevitably hard, solid
the stalks are obvious, bold, erect
do the stones add up to the love of one's life
or are they simply the potential of life to come?

for me the flesh is sweet as love
as sour as lies
as shiny as a smile
as red as blood

the stones are as solid as the love i have
for the woman i love,
the family of my blood
and the kin of my soul

the stalks are the ladder
between heaven and earth
Jacob's dream, my reality
trust the stalk
heaven is here.

Shandon Friday

Sunset in Shandon
soft, silent, sober
reflections in the canal
gulls and terns soaring
dogs, bikes and joggers
dodge my shadow on the path
i drift along and homeward finally turn...

Turtle Print

I have discovered a creature that suits my creative style as well as my nature! I am having lots of fun with the prints i made from this original...yes i did make the classic rookie mistake of writing the letters without realising they needed to be back-to-front... Ah well!

Friday in the West of England, Part 2

Minchinhampton is famous locally for its cattle which are free to roam across Minchinhampton Common. Near "Long Tom's Post" we were able to meet some of the locals...

Local properties really do need to be gated communities if only to preserve their lawns and not get a fright every time they wake up - i guess it might be fun occasionally to sleep with the window open and be woken by huffing and licks from a doe-eyed cow but hardly something that is likely to appeal on a regular basis - i can certainly think of someone i'd much rather be woken by... Tee!Hee!

Friday in the West of England

Banksy in Bristol exhibition: ironic - queuing in the rain to be admitted to a gallery to view his works of art when he is famous as a graffiti artist and would surely abhor such plaudits?

Well, we gave up after a while feet soaked and spirits sinking and we went into Oxfam and bought some stickers made from his art works probably handed in by the man himself.

After a Starbucks to renew us body, mind and soul i trotted down Park Street to buy toiletries in Boots and, on my way there, i went through Banksy's gallery, saw his work now vandalised by "anti-griffiti vigilantes"...irony again!

And then i was halted in my trotting by this splendid unicorn and had to balance my camera on a post-box to get some close-ups of this magical beast...

Then after a bit more pottering we drove back to Nailsworth where this little fella had to be rescued from the indignity of being squashed on a shelf amongst childish toys and games!!! He has yet to find his name but has settled in well as car guardian while we had lunch in Minchinhampton and then as companion to the resident house creatures at Longfords Mill...

A leaf falls
is caught
by breezes
and falls again
burled round
at times -
pirouette
of whirling dervish;
light casts shadows -
they knit together
a hammock
on to which
the leaf falls -
the dance is now
a slow waltz

cloud covers the sun
hammock fades
leaf falls
and lands
an open hand
on a cushion of moss
bejewelled
with the tears
of the tree
from which it fell.

Psychedelia in Nature

Sometimes when i edit my photos i find myself in a somewhat psychedelic mood. I've learnt to go with it, not to worry about it but to have fun and enjoy the results! This collage is of knots in wood, fungus and raw cut edges on tree trunks. Nature doesn't really need enhancing but play is good...

Feathers are Art

Stray feathers on the ground
are your eyes deceiving you?
did i play with their colours,
use the feathers as ink pens
to paint them different shades?

Anything is possible,
if we close our eyes and
open our imagination
for then, when we open
our eyes again
we are not surprised
by the incredible...

Beauty is in the Eye of the Donkey

What a privilege to spend time with these fun-loving, curious, cheeky creatures! This is the eye of a donkey and it is one of a small herd of donkeys living at Jupiter Art Land near East Calder. I revelled in stroking them, speaking with them, massaging their necks and down their backs (one of the jennies was leaning against the fence so that she could rest while i massaged down her dorsal line!). Simple pleasures, prayer in action as i cared for a part of Creation.
In everything i do this week may i see God, touch God, feel, hear, taste and smell God in everything, everybody, in all of the universe...for there is that of God in all. Blessed be!

Azure blue at Little Sparta

At first we didn't see them then we saw one, then two and then we could see that the air was filled with these beautiful, dancing, mating, resting jewels and we were in a trance-like state as we watched them, tried to photograph them, and wondered at their presence...

Heaven happens

When we die
no after-life
no before life
we are beyond life
time and space
no longer affect us
we can shift between times
appear in dreams,
memories, ideas
of those trapped in life.

No, not trapped
not if souls are open
to see beyond
if hearts desire
to reach out
Yes, heart and soul are free
in life,
beyond life,
in God.

That’s when Heaven happens
- in that tender touch,
compassionate word,
those soul-to-soul moments
when one hand reaches
and another hand meets,
exchanging food, money, love.

Stay with Me

Padre Pio, known as the Ultimate Priest, a Capuchin monk who received the stigmata, keeps appearing to me through the guise of websites, candles and now a cd featuring my dear schoolfriend Will Todd. The cd "Padre Pio Prayer" includes several musical versions of the prayer "Stay with me" and Will's was commissioned by the Genesis Foundation. It is a beautiful piece of music inspired by a heartfelt prayer full of longing, overflowing with humility and echoed in many hearts.

Stay with me Lord, stay with me Lord, stay with me Lord for You are my life, my strength and my faith,
my passion and light.
Lord stay lest I forget You,
abandon You, fall in the dark.
Oh Lord my soul is poor, but let it be a home for You,
Stay with me Lord.

This is the first verse of a version of the prayer written by Ben Dunwell who often writes for Will. The mosaic forms the cover of the cd, was created by William M. Carrigan in 1955, and now graces the library at Mt. de Sales Academy in Catonsville, MD.

Jesus asked the disciples to stay with him on his last night, to watch and pray. They couldn't. They were too human, too frail, too lacking in humility perhaps... Jesus cries out to God, asking why his Creator has abandoned him.

Padre Pio called on the Christ to stay with him because he knew that Jesus felt the fear he was feeling, that utter loneliness of facing death. Pio trusted in the God who reaches out beyond our human frailty and restores us.

The water-dragon lizard's favourite perch is on a sturdy branch over water. The water dragon is one of the animal totems i need as it symbolises courage and compassion during the challenge of facing painful past experiences. The totem brings memories and wishes, perhaps long hidden, to the surface. The Chinese water dragon lizard has a parietal eye, a light-sensitive "third eye" located in the top of the head. I need this third eye but sometimes the light is too bright...

On a personal level i see Gail often being my sturdy branch; on a global level i see the branch as God, with Jesus sitting beside me. Together we face the water that is life, trickling and tumbling, roaring and receding, thrilling and threatening. I have two aquatic creatures now as totems and also a bird that dives into water...

The psalmist puts it this way:

Those who put their trust in You are like giant trees standing firm and rooted deep.
As the trees grow strong in fertile soil,
so we mature in the garden of Love,
nourished by the Word of life.

Psalm 125 (from Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness by Nan C Merrill)

To whom am i able to be that tree? How can i stay planted in fertile soil, nourished by God?

Naked hedgehogs and kingfishers...

I love that postcard of two hedgehogs sitting together. Behind them is a coat-rack on which their "coats", their prickles, hang. The caption reads something like:

"I am completely at ease with you"

I find it SO appealing and yet i constantly question what it means for me. Is it because i am never at ease with myself that i am drawn to the dream, no the fantasy, that one day i might find myself at ease with myself enough that i really could be at ease with another?

I know that, with Gail, i am more at ease than with anyone else. I can walk naked in our home and let her see me without scurrying away or grabbing a towel or some item of clothing to cover my nakedness.

And yet i don't know how to reveal my self, how to grasp hold of the kingfisher even for one moment and experience that peace, a Halcyon pause.

Kingfisher is part of the Halyconidae family of birds. According to Greek mythology Halcyon days are the seven days in midwinter during which storms never occur. Alcyone married Ceyx, son of Eosphorus, the Morning Star. Legend tells that they used to call each other Zeus and Hera. Zeus, enraged by this disrespect, sent a thunderbolt to destroy Ceyx's ship while he was out at sea and Alcyone, on hearing of this in an apparition, threw herself into the sea. Out of compassion, the gods then changed the pair into halcyon birds. When Alcyone was ready to lay her eggs, her father Aeolus, the god of the winds, restrained the winds and calmed the waves so that she could make her nest on the beach and lay her eggs.

A few weeks ago, driving up the M9 towards Alloa, i was startled to see a kingfisher flying across the motorway. There was absolutely no doubting what i was seeing! That brilliant flash of blue-green, the low whirring flight, the size. I had to press my Bluetooth speaker button and summon my mother to her phone - i simply had to share what i'd just seen and i knew that she would understand and share my excitement...and indeed she did!

So what omen did this sighting possibly bring? The Kingfisher is a symbol of peace and prosperity. The Kingfisher is the promise of abundance -- its blue plumage is associated with Jupiter, the planet of abundance. People with a Kingfisher totem need to live as near as possible to water and as far north as possible. .. If a Kingfisher comes into your life, you might be required to dive headlong into some activity -- or possibly a new love will enter your life. No matter what it is, don't be afraid of trying the new. Kingfisher will be there to guide you. You won't drown -- and you will have sunshine, love and abundance!http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/kingfisher.htm

Well, the new love had already entered my life and abundance and prosperity for me needs to be about love, shelter, support rather than finance, though sufficiency is obviously helpful! I need to learn to hold on to not being afraid of trying the new, believe that i won't drown. How curious that i have a deep-rooted fear of drowning and panic immediately when people are under water on television. In fact even writing about it is making me catch my breath and feel panicky...

Where do i go?

Switch off
shut down
blank screen
only the blinking blue
power icon tells the world i am alive.

As the turtle retreats
within its shell
i disappear
but
i have not gone within
but away
i have absented myself
gone AWOL
or perhaps missing in action.

As the armadillo rolls itself into a ball
i can appear solid,
impenetrable
but if you were to find
the slightest chink
in my armour
the rest would disintegrate too
and,
naked soul,
raw heart
would simply die
from fear.