Life on the Ground

 

Outside on the to and fro 

I saw a soft grey pigeon, 

waddling and pecking at 

unseen crumbs and seeds, 

while a little red squirrel 

leapt from a tree branch

to a fence and scrambled 

to the ground. Was it to 

check for a peanut or two 

in a carefully tended garden?

The noise of cars and trucks 

vanished as I watched this 

little life on the ground.

Standing to one side, 

a little tree gave them 

dappled shade, the earth its seed. 

Life continues every day 

whether I pay attention or not. 

Today, it filled me with warmth

for this little bit of reality.

“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”

~ E.B.White

Ours Alone

Shining for a moment, until 

our fear of being laughed at 

tugs at our necks like a chain. 

To own our being after our 

life travels can be difficult. 

To be brave and claim the right to shine is ours alone.

“[N]obody likes having salt rubbed into 

their wounds, even it it is the salt of the earth.”

~ Rebecca West,  The Harsh Voice

The Chill of Autumn

October, 2008
Hazeldell Orchards, Kelowna

Autumn shows up faithfully each year to the call of the geese gathering flocks; with boisterous winds cold and rough edged.

Bales of straw and hay, rolled and tied, lie quietly in fields of gold, a nest for mice and voles until trucked away.

Leaves, as if by magic, change into their beautiful red, gold, orange hues readying for the final float to the ground.

Fruits, vegetables and grain, 

ripe for harvesting, fill markets 

with abundance for winter 

sustenance and goodness.

Soups and stews bubble and steam

to serve the bounty of harvest 

at the table; warming insides 

to ease the loss of summer.

Sweaters and blankets, their cosy warmth 

for colder days and nights, are 

resurrected from dark cupboards 

~ friendly companions in the chill of autumn.

“I notice that Autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.”

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Cycle of Life

Easing towards any season has an odd mix of excitement and disbelief, especially spring and summer. 

‘Spring is coming and 

it will never get here. 

It will be winter forever. 

We’ll all freeze solid’

Spring and summer greet chirping birds back from the south, or wherever birds go for the winter. And then there’s warmth; green trees and flowers ~ visible burgeoning life! 

It’s ok for spring to blend into summer, 

but when nights get colder and most flowers have 

become one with the grass, 

except the audacious sunflowers, 

spicy chrysanthemums and ferocious tiger lilies. 

Autumn is a beautiful month. Trees become 

bouquets of colour, preparing for the next 

cycle of falling leaves. Of course, the 

unmentionable is the season of ice and snow.

But it too will have it’s own dangerous 

beauty of glitter, frost and ice.

“Things have their time, even eminence bows to timeliness.”

~ Balthasar Gracian,  The Art of Worldly Wisdom

From the Eaves

 

Summer’s end hangs drying

from the eaves 

not wanting to let go 

of the warmth of summer.

“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.”

~ William Shakespeare

Flamboyant! ~ SEASONS ~ Theme for September 2025

 

Summer’s end…..

Easing towards……

Autumn shows……

Shining for…….

Outside on the……

Nestling into…….

Soup and sandwiches……

“Happily we bask in this warm September sun, 

which illuminates all creatures…”

~ Henry David Thoreau

(1817 - 1862)

The Beauty of Age

Age, quite simply, 

is but a number. 

A number I quite approve of, 

like the number on a calendar, 

    on a list, 

    telephone numbers,

    street numbers and 

    anything counts.

We do count our days, 

the weeks that pass, 

the years that add up but ~

we sometimes fail to add up

the experiences of each of those days.

Most are not momentous, 

some bring stunning joy, 

some deep sorrows, 

many days just ordinary but all

are the warp and weft of life

Age, quite simply, is but a number.

The beauty of age is the fabric 

that has been woven for good or ill.

“Weave beautifully your small thread in the grand tapestry.”

~ Gordon B. Hinckley

(1910 - 2008)